<p>Listed below are the most recent 4-year and 5-year graduation rates for the SUNY campuses that provide links to the Commmon Data Set for their institutions. Binghamton and Geneseo are ranked #11 and #17 nationally among public colleges and universities in terms of graduating students within a 4 and 5 year time frame.</p>
<p>You are always going to find a lot more non-traditional students at Public universities, especially those schools that are located in urban areas like buffalo, albany etc.<br>
SUNY/CUNY’s due to reduced tuition costs will attract a number of working adults who want to pursue their education and remain in the work force. It may take longer to obtain the degree; or students may be taking courses to increase knowledge or skills and not be pursuing a degree. The mission of a public university is different than your more traditional college that is filled with young adults straight from HS.</p>
<p>Therefore the 4 to 5 year graduation rate may not be the best way to judge a public university. In fact SUNY prides itself in having colleges throughout the state so that every New Yorker will live close enough to a SUNY campus to take advantage of any and all educational opportunities.<br>
Personally, I think that is an extremely admirable position to take-</p>
<p>Good point Marny1. My D is a soph at New Paltz and is on track to graduate in 4 years with a BA major in Eng Lit, minor in Art History, and a BS in Studio Art with a concentration in painting. She will spend 2nd sem. junior year in Barcelona. Point being, with SUNY you get out of it what you put into it. She has never been unable to fill her schedule due to classes being full, or not offered. That being said she is very focused and I have spent some time with her guiding her on course selection because she has an ambitious agenda.</p>
<p>The percentage of non-traditional students included in the Common Data Set figures for most of these schools is negligible. Certainly, at Geneseo, very few of the students who will be entering this year’s freshman cohort will be working adults or commuters. That is no doubt less the case at a place like Buffalo State. I think there are a whole variety of factors that effect grad rates at the SUNYs – from family income to availability of classes to dissatisfaction with the weather or culture climate – as well as at OOS publics.</p>
<p>The SUNYs do a reasonably good job of getting their students their degrees within five years, but it would be wrong to assume there isn’t room for improvement (I know that is NOT what you are saying Marny). The 4-year grad rates at UNC, St. Mary’s of Maryland and The College of New Jersey and Mary Washington University are 75%, 75%, 68%, 68% and 68% respectively (and between 79% and 86% for five years). On the other end of the scale there are many State flagships (Maine, Rhode Island, Ohio State, WVU, Nebraska, Kansas, Arizona) that graduate only 30-40% of their students in four years.</p>
<p>I too think it is an admirable goal to make accessibility to a public college as open as possible, but I would like to see us doing a better job of helping these students get a degree within a reasonable amount of time once they are there.</p>
<p>BTW, three of my siblings went to SUNYs for their undergrad eductions – to Oswego, Albany and New Paltz respectively. The first two graduated in four years with honors. The third transferred out of New Paltz to the local CC after one semster and ended her formal education with an Associates degree. That’s a grad rate of 67% – right on par with Binghamton!</p>
<p>As Vahevala says- I think it is what each student takes out of their own experience at SUNY. My d at Cortland decided in her junior year to minor in communications. She’ll also be spending her last semester away from campus doing a sport management internship. In order to graduate on time (4 years), she will be taking one on-line summer class through the SUNY system. They have a very extensive amount of classes to chose from. If you include campus or SUNY on-line classes given during summer and winter session, I think almost all students would be able to graduate within a 5 year period if they WANT to.<br>
Maybe SUNY’s low cost doesn’t discourage some from taking a long time to obtain their BA degree.<br>
Trust me, if these kids were paying $30,000 tuition a year, they’d be graduating in 4 years.</p>
<p>Do these numbers include those starting in programs that take longer than 4 years? For example, I know that UB has a several pre-professional tracks that do not award the first degree in 4 years. Just wondering if that might account for a bit of the difference.</p>
<p>sk8rmom – Yes, good catch. I should have noted that I have included the 5-year grad rate precisely because some schools, and UB is a notable example, offer 5-year programs in areas such as engineering, architecture, industrial design, etc. This accounts, in part, for UB’s 19-point jump from year 4 to year 5. </p>
<p>I don’t know why New Paltz has such a wide spead between the 4-year rate and the 5-year rate, however. Maybe a lot of students are having such a good time they just don’t want to leave Ulster County?</p>
<p>My son at New Paltz will not be graduating in 4 years due to having transferred there last semester. He also tends to take a few classes here and there that don’t count toward his major. He doesn’t seem to mind and I actually think he prefers staying an undergrad longer, especially in this financial climate. More time not to have to think about getting a job or grad school. I don’t really mind either since SUNY is so cost effective. It would be a different story if he had stayed at his former private school though!</p>
<p>I have to wonder how many kids say they can’t get courses, when what it comes down to is they don’t want 8 or 9 am courses. Not to critize anyone kids, but unless you are on the ground, you really dont know. Dont know if some kids think, well I am saving my folks $$$ by going to a SUNY, so why cant I chill a little.??</p>
<p>Also, I’ld like it if colleges could somehow track kids who transfer out and graduate in 4 years (NCSLB - no college student left behind?). To me, that is a success story, if the first college prepared the child adequately for the final years, they should be regarded as part of a success.</p>
<p>SUNY Purchase is in populated Westchester county, and many kids live at home. Many attend there with the express intent of transferring and living away at home – especially kids whose families are on such a tight budget they can not afford 4 years away at school.</p>
<p>I also suspect schools like Buffalo State get a higher proportion of first generation college students, and parents are not monitoring credit situation.</p>
<p>As to the comment of students living close enough to take advange of SUNYs – Westchester gets the shaft. SUNY Purchase is, I believe, the only University College, which does not provide either education credentials or an accounting degree – two very popular majors/certificates. More and more Westchester kids are looking at the CUNYs.</p>