<p>OSU gets students through faster</p>
<p>Six-year graduation rate hits record pace </p>
<p>Tuesday, November 2, 2010 02:52 AM
By Encarnacion Pyle</p>
<p>THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH </p>
<p>More than three-quarters of Ohio State University students now graduate within six years - well above the national average of 57 percent.</p>
<p>Ohio State’s six-year graduation rate rose to an all-time high of 78 percent this year, up about 3 percentage points compared with 2009, according to figures released yesterday. Ten years ago, only 56 percent of OSU students graduated within six years.</p>
<p>The six-year rate is the measure most commonly used nationally.</p>
<p>Ohio State’s four-year graduation rate also inched up, to almost 53 percent this year. But OSU officials would like to see those percentages climb dramatically in the coming years.</p>
<p>“My personal goal is for us to attract such high-caliber students and provide such a high-quality program that 85 percent of our students graduate within four years and virtually all leave within six years,” Provost Joseph A. Alutto said.</p>
<p>White students had the highest six-year graduation rate, at nearly 79 percent. Black students made the largest gains in the past year: almost 8 percentage points to almost 69 percent. But Latino students slipped from 72 percent to just under 67 percent.</p>
<p>OSU officials credit the overall improvement to the school’s success in attracting better-prepared students each year.</p>
<p>Before 1988, any high-school graduate in the state was allowed to enroll at Ohio State. The campus started moving toward selective admissions that year. Open admissions were gone by 2003.</p>
<p>Ever since, the school has been able to attract students with higher grade-point averages, ACT scores and class ranks, said Dolan Evanovich, OSU’s vice president for strategic enrollment planning. At the same time, retention and graduation rates have improved, along with the size of the graduating class.</p>
<p>In September, Evanovich unveiled a plan to increase the quality, quantity and diversity of the school’s student body by 2015, including raising the six-year graduation rate to 80 percent and freshman retention rate to 95 percent. This year, Ohio State retained 92.8 percent of students after their freshman year, slightly higher than in 2009. By comparison, the statewide average at select-admission public universities in Ohio is about 77 percent.</p>
<p>Campus officials said they have improved advising, orientation sessions and other efforts to help freshmen adjust to college.</p>
<p>Ohio’s strategic plan for higher education calls for schools to raise the six-year graduation rate by 20 percent, from a statewide average of 56 percent in 2007 to 67 percent by 2017. The state also wants to increase the number of degrees awarded to minority and first-generation students, who are the most likely to drop out after their first year.</p>
<p>To entice colleges to focus on student success, Ohio is moving away from funding schools based entirely on student enrollment to using graduation rates and other measures.</p>
<p>Source: [OSU</a> gets students through faster | The Columbus Dispatch](<a href=“http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/02/osugets-students-through-faster.html?sid=101]OSU”>http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/02/osugets-students-through-faster.html?sid=101)</p>