Affordability first, then grad rate. And I agree about looking to see what grad rate really means a school. Do many kids need a fifth year to get in all their classes? Is it difficult to change majors and that’s why kids take longer? Because they do a semester of work? Like engineers who work for a semester and then come back and finish? Or are there a lot of nontraditional students who are working their way through school?
I guess I don’t think of LACs as having such a problem with graduation rates. It seems like more of a big state U issue. I am taking classes at a big state U with a low four year grad rate. The U is very concerned about the numbers. Looking at my fellow students, I am less worried because I see so many commuter students and nontraditional students. They will get it done, just not in four years.
It does create a different environment on campus, however. There is a solid block of traditional students who live in dorms and join clubs and are focused on campus life, but there are lots of older students, post military students, and students with children. Class discussions are different than I remember from my days as a college student, not necessarily in a bad way. But I am not hanging out in the library and shooting the breeze with my classmates.