Suggestion for Moderator Article/4 year graduation rate

Applying to College
1

<p>Dave, we need one of your great articles on this topic!!</p>

<p>Statistics on 4 year graduation rate are readily available on common data sets, but how do you interpret them? My daughter has been admitted to one school with a lower rate that otherwise sounds great. We are visiting next month, and will ask the school and pump the students, but feel a little unprepared for followup questions. Can a moderator/posters discuss this issue so that those of us who are helping our kids make their final choices can balance this properly? </p>

<p>The most obvious question is "What factors affect your 4 year graduation rate?" Another posting here from a student (thank you!!) said that many of her friends (at Seattle University) take double majors, and they have a large number of students who do quarters overseas. She also said that the four year rate reduction does not take into account that many students need "just one more quarter" to finish...</p>

<p>Other factors that I wonder about: perhaps city schools would be lower as people would tend to take just one class (are these students in the numbers?) or a short series; perhaps schools with more older adults who take a lower courseload, ??? Just not sure how to evaluate admissions answers.... what do posters think?</p>

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<p>As a tuition payer, 4 yr grad rates have been a statistic I pay attention to. It is not a good reflection on the school or the student body when 4 year graduation rates are “low.” Double majors (including a semester abroad) should be done w/in 4 years. For the rare bird who is an engineering major with a double and wants to study abroad, the undergrad may take longer than 4 years. I doubt the number of students attempting this feat would be statistically relevant.
I don’t think it is an accident that the better schools with the stronger students have the best 4 year graduation rates. Kids like the school and stay, it is probably not overcrowded (kids get the classes, when needed), the school provides quality guidance to maximize successful 4 yr grad numbers. One caveat that makes sense for a skewed number, however, is a strong co-op program like Drexel and/or Northeastern.</p>

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<p>A better stat to look at is the 6 year graduation rate especially for coop schools like Northeastern where most students are in a standard 5 year program. Also, if a school has a pharmacy, physical therapy or architecture school, those programs require 5 years of study, even without coop.</p>