Saint Mary's College 4-year Graduation Rate

Colleges and Universities A-Z Saint Mary's College of California
1

<p>Son is considering applying to SMU school of business (undergraduate). In looking at the school's 4-year graduation rate of 50% (per CollegeData.com) we're concerned that the chances of a 5th year of school are high which then becomes a significant detractor financially.</p>

<p>Would like to get student/parent opinions on class availability and their experiences with trying to obtain a business degree (or any other degree, for that matter) within a 4-year timeframe at SMU. I realize that student motivation, one's major, etc. can all play a big role but most interested in if the university in general tries to make this a possibility or if one seems to have to 'fight the system' in order to accomplish it.</p>

<p>On a side note, has anyone by chance noticed if graduation within 4-years has become noticeably harder since the downturn in the economy in the past 2-3 years?</p>

2

<p>My daughter and I had the same question and wrote to the SMU admissions counselor assigned to her area. She explained that the percentages are a bit askew as there are some programs that are 5 year programs, many athletes red shirt and the nursing and engineering programs require affiliation with other schools. That made sense to us.</p>

<p>As to your second question, what I have seen and heard is that the students at state schools have a more difficult time as there have been so many classes cut, either students cannot carry a full load or cannot move onto upper division work because they have not had the opportunity to get the required lower division classes. Also, applicable to all schools, there is no incentive to get out into the world when that world holds small promise of employment.</p>