<p>Purdue has a pretty low 4 year graduation rate - less than 40%. Why is that ?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I can’t say definitely, but it could be because many engineers take more than four years to complete their programs, 4.5 to five years. I took 4.5 years to finish my BSCE 30 years ago because I changed programs. If they include all of the Purdue students system wide it could include non-traditonal students, too. Also, for the people who can’t cut it in engineering and change their majors it could take extra time. For those that can handle the rigor, 4 years is doable.</p>
<p>You are smart to ask! I recently developed my own ranking of colleges and discovered that the four-year graduation rate showed the greatest variation among the variables in my model. In my state (22 colleges), a 40% 4-year graduation rate is about the average, which surprised me a bit–I thought it would be higher. There may be good reasons for this: if the school is heavy with engineers or architects or other very intense majors, if the school has many part-time undergrads, etc. I would recomend you ask the college why. I also suggest you might compare this graduation rate to that of similar schools, just to see if there is much difference. All other things being equal, you are more likely to graduate in four years if most of your classmates are graduating in four years.</p>
<p>It’s important to note that Purdue has an amazing co-op program. Our daughter (ME) got a 5 term co op and works every other semester for a great international company. This experience automatically puts her on the 5 year plan. But she will graduate from one of the top engineering schools in the country and have almost 2 years work experience under her belt. The company also pays her a generous salary, a housing allowance plus a generous portion of her tuition! Well, worth the extra year of time!</p>