<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I do not have any kids in college as my oldest is a Freshman in High School but I'm trying to do some basic research. I was look at CNN website at costs of college and noticed that they post the 4 Year Graduation Rate of Colleges which are all quite low. Why are so few students graduating in 4 years?</p>
<p>Thank you!
Lisa</p>
<p>I can think of a couple of reasons:</p>
<p>1)Most college students are actually not 18-22 years old. They are older and probably working at least full time while attending college. Not going to get that done in 4 years.</p>
<p>2)Budget cuts in many schools have made it difficult to get all one’s classes exactly on time. D1 had a little trouble with that at her public university, though she did graduate on time due to having come in with 26 hours from AP credit.</p>
<p>Those are just two reasons off the top of my head.</p>
<p>Also…
<p>2) There are many five year programs nowadays that can give students their masters degree in their major or allow them to achieve two degrees at once (so you might want to compare the 4 year graduation % with the 6 year graduation %)</p>
<p>3) Like Nrdsb4 said, people have to work while in college in order to pay for it nowadays. Not just older people, but the 18-22 year olds, too. That’s going to make it harder to complete in 4 years.</p>
<p>A few more reasons:</p>
<p>Going in without a plan, so not being able to fit in all requirements in 4 years once a major is declared. And changing majors. And changing majors AGAIN, or adding a 2nd major or minor.</p>
<p>Partying too much.
Dropping, failing or having to repeat a course/courses. Getting off track and not fitting in requirements due to the sequence of courses/required courses not being offered every semester.</p>
<p>Not taking a full load each semester. Not paying careful attention to graduation requirements.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^^^^I should have mentioned that one first. I graduated in 5 years because I changed majors after my junior year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Graduation rates tend to track admissions selectivity. Typical reasons that tend to affect weaker students more:</p>
<ul>
<li>Needing remedial English or math (or other) courses that result in a semester delay in taking courses needed for the major or other requirements.</li>
<li>Not being able to handle a full load on average.</li>
<li>Failing and needing to repeat courses.</li>
</ul>
<p>Other reasons that are student related:</p>
<ul>
<li>Changing major late.</li>
<li>Undecided student not planning frosh year course work to cover prerequisites for all of the majors of interest.</li>
<li>Poor schedule planning – i.e. not checking necessary prerequisites, requirements, and course offerings when choosing courses.</li>
<li>Transferring schools where previous courses taken do not fulfill the new schools’ requirements, resulting in more courses needed to “catch up”.</li>
</ul>
<p>Reasons that are generally benign:</p>
<ul>
<li>Taking a semester off to do a co-op job or other non-tuition-paying activity.</li>
<li>As a commuter student with a job (typically half to full time), taking lighter course loads to work around job hours.</li>
</ul>
<p>Running out of money.</p>
<p>Not being well enough prepared for college in the first place.</p>
<p>Colleges and universities that are highly selective (think of Harvard and the like), and that can offer excellent financial aid to all students who remotely need any aid (again like Harvard and peers), tend to graduate almost all of their students in four years. Big public universities that admit any in-state applicant with a B average, and that only have enough aid to cover the federally guaranteed aid (Pell, federal loans, work-study, etc.) tend to graduate about 30% in four years. However, even at Big State U, those students with Harvard-level HS profiles, and good financial backing graduate on time at Harvard-level rates, and students with decent study habits, who are focused on their post-college goals, and who don’t struggle financially will probably graduate in only four years as well.</p>
<p>Just because Big State U has a horrible average graduation time, doesn’t mean that your own kid will be one of those students who takes forever to finish. If your kid is goal-oriented, and your family can afford BSU, your kid will probably be able to finish in four years. Mine is.</p>
<p>Not understanding that while 12 credits is considered full-time, 8 semesters will only get you 96 credits, and that’s not enough to graduate. Many don’t realize this until it’s way too late.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that some majors at some schools take more than 4 years. At our flagship, many (if not most) of the engineering students are on the 5 year plan. This could be because they co-op for a semester, or they were not able to get all the classes they needed in their schedule to graduate in the 4 years. For engineering, some schools will tell you outright to plan on 5 years. When checking out colleges, it is a good idea to ask the school the normal graduation rate for the major your son/daughter is interested in.</p>
<p>As a side note, some of the numbers reported by CNN for poor four year graduation rates are off by a lot. Check the IPEDS College Navigator ([College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics) ) for the real data rather than relying on CNN. </p>
<p>Also, there are some four year universities which are set up as essentially community colleges. That is, the students who can go full time go for two years for almost no money and then transfer to the flagship while those that need to work, only attend part time. Oklahoma and Ohio both have this set up, as do (presumably) other states. At UT San Antonio for example it’s considered a success if a student transfers to UT Austin. The same is true with Cameron University to the University of Oklahoma.</p>
<p>i will second the changing major theme. Certain programs, such as engineering and archetecture are “lock step” where you have to take certain classes in sequence. So if you decide to switch to these majors halfway through your sophomore year, guess what, your four years will start over the beginning of your junior year as you begin those basic courses. </p>
<p>So if your kid is even remotely considering something like engineering or archetecture or interior design or something else that has a rigid sequence, make sure he starts with that program. It is way easier to transfer out and use those credits as general electives than transfer in.</p>
<p>The percentage of people going to college for the first time who actually finish college is pretty low at 54%. It is higher (81%) for “traditional” students at 4 year public colleges, 70% of them at the same institution. Adults who go part time have more trouble finishing, for obvious reasons. [College</a> completion rates: 54 percent of first-time students graduate within six years.](<a href=“http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/02/27/college_completion_rates_54_percent_of_first_time_students_graduate_within.html]College”>College completion rates: 54 percent of first-time students graduate within six years.)</p>
<p>I know many “traditional” students who didn’t finish out of choice, or for some other reason like money, lack of direction, better job opportunities in the present, and so on. If they have debt it can be a problem but if not, it can sometimes be a reasonable option.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that they’re still referred to as “4 year” colleges.</p>
<ul>
<li>Changing majors</li>
<li>Classes are only offered every other semester</li>
<li>Some people go part time </li>
<li>Leave of absences</li>
</ul>
<p>Family wealth (or lack thereof). Many/most colleges do not meet full financial need.</p>
<p>Poorer students have to work to pay the bills and even send money home to help the family. Such students end up on the 5/6 year plan.</p>
<p>OTOH, many publics are generous with AP/IB credits.</p>
<p>
I wouldn’t say the 4-year graduation rates are all very low. At most highly selective private colleges, the 4-year graduation rate is ~85%, and the 6-year graduation rate is ~95%. This sounds reasonable to me. A minority of colleges have a very large difference between the rates, which usually relates to something unique about the school.</p>
<p>For example, GeorgiaTech has a 33% 4-year graduation rate and 80% 6-year graduation rate. This relates to their co-op program and engineering being a 4.5 year degree. UW schools are particularly lopsided, which I believe relates to some of their programs being 5 years, such as engineering and education. Examples include Madison with 50% / 83% and La Crosse with 32% / 74%. Some state schools are lower primarily due to registration issues. I believe this includes CA state schools, such as UCSD with a 57% 4-year graduation and 86% 6-year graduation. </p>
<p>While uncommon, it’s also possible to graduate in fewer than 4 years at many colleges, particularly if you earn a lot of college credits while in HS. For example, in 4 years I did a BS and MS in an engineering field at Stanford, along with about half of a 2nd MS in a business field. I finished off the second half long distance, while working at a full time job and living hundreds of miles away. While in college I had time for sports teams and/or part-time jobs at some points. There was a period where I had 2 part time jobs simultaneously.</p>
<p>I just want to add that some become disillusioned with college or decide it is not the path for them.</p>
<p>I would say that the students who have good study habits, know what they want to do, pay attention to what their major’s req’ts are, and who have funding (by family, gov’t, institution) are most likely to graduate on-time.</p>
<p>If you’re worried that your kids won’t graduate on time, then being pro-active can increase the likelihood that your kids will graduate on time. Also, coming in with AP credits also helps. </p>
<p>Don’t know if these were also mentioned above…</p>
<p>doing co-ops,
semester abroads,
double majors,
refusing to take 8am or late afternoon classes,
dropping classes,
taking the wrong Gen Ed classes
Nursing programs (some require 9 semesters)
All of the above can also delay graduation. (Semester abroads can delay graduation if the student isn’t taking a real full load or is taking unneeded classes for interest.)</p>
<p>For the record: My kids attended a large flagship that has kids who don’t graduate in four years. Both of my kids graduated in four years…easily. Their senior years were filled mostly with extra classes that were just “for interest.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That claim seems to be overblown for UCs. I asked specifically on the Berkeley forum, and no one responded that they were delayed in graduation due to non-availability of required classes.</p>
<p>When UC StatFinder existed, it was easy to see that four year graduation rates at the various campuses generally tracked the admission selectivity of campus.</p>
<p>The problem can be very real at community colleges, which do not limit intake of students with an admissions process.</p>
<p>My dd is on tack to graduate 1 semester early, so not only can your child graduate in 4 years but they can graduate in 3 years should they have enough AP/IB or dual enrollment credits. </p>
<p>I do see a huge correlation between the selectivity of the college and the graduation rate for the colleges in my state. I don’t know anything about other colleges in other states. The better prepared a student is the better they do in college. </p>
<p>The biggest obstacle I have seen for students is money that are prepared. This is why we selected the college she attends(has a higher graduation rate) and why we made sure there is money to pay for it.</p>