<p>This really suprises me...</p>
<p>The</a> LOWEST Graduation Rates Among 4-Year Colleges (PHOTOS)</p>
<p>80% is considered a LOW graduation rate??? Oh come on…</p>
<p>There are other schools certainly that have lower graduation rates…you can’t convince me that these are the LOWEST graduation rates of four year schools.</p>
<p>I am thinking this is just a ridiculous article–there are lots of schools with lower grad rates…
perhaps this is supposed to be a shock value thing - given the schools included…</p>
<p>They say, “Among America’s most selective colleges…” Those actually are pretty decent graduation rates. I thought I read that nationally it is around 50%.</p>
<p>Read the intro again - they’re specifying the schools with high selectivity only. If you click through to this link, you’ll see all the other, worse grad rates! I agree that 80% isn’t bad in comparison to the rest, but not the top either!</p>
<p>[AEI</a> - Papers](<a href=“http://www.aei.org/paper/100019]AEI”>http://www.aei.org/paper/100019)</p>
<p>I would think 80% should be what a college strives for over 6 years, unless it is really super-selective. Having all the classes curved to a 3.6+ so everyone can get through isn’t necessarily the best way to do things.</p>
<p>^ Well, you have to consider what the grad rate is based on. It’s only the percentage of the first time, full-time freshmen of a particular cohort who receive a bachelor’s degree from that school within 6 years. Transfers and part time students aren’t counted so this is not a full picture of a school’s graduation rate. The authors of the AEI study estimate that the actual graduation rate averages 8% higher than the IPEDS data suggests.</p>
<p>By highlighting the highest and lowest graduation rates among highly selective colleges, this publication is giving a distorted picture. The most serious problems with graduation rates aren’t at these kinds of colleges.</p>
<p>I thought the graduation rates for the academies were interesting (Air Force - 77% and West Point - 81%).</p>
<p>Wonder how those compare to Annapolis?</p>
<p>In recent years the graduation rate at Annapolis has been higher that West Point or the AFA. running in the high 80’s</p>
<p>sk8rmom’s link (post #5) is much more telling than the OP’s link. Makes much more sense.</p>
<p>80 percent seems high for academies. I thought they expected about a third to drop out. DH said that when they first get to West Point they have them look to their left and right and say one of you will not graduate. It’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>Reed’s graduation rate is, as far as I know, upwardly trending. The administration has been trying to create support programs and processes to reduce the amount of burnout among students. Students I know there have noticed the gradual change.</p>
<p>MD Mom - they do make a concerted effort to keep kids now. they have summer school and extensive counseling for those who desire to separate.
Attrition now is about 20-25% - generally that number is attrition AFTER completion of Beast or Plebe summer. They don’t count those who leave the first summer.</p>