Graduation Rates – Page 4 – Do It Yourself College Rankings

Essential Guide to College Graduation Rates

02/26/202108/20/2019 by Michelle Kretzschmar

table listing colleges with the highest graduation rate statistics

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If you’re just looking for the latest college graduation rate statistics, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) the 4-year graduation rate for four-year colleges in the United States is 42%. For private colleges, it is 54% and the 4-year rate for public institutions is 37%. This is for students starting in 2011. These statistics are not the same as you’ll often see reported by the media. That’s because they are reporting the 6-year graduation rates. The 6-year graduation rate is 60% overall and 66% for private colleges and 59% for public colleges.

College Search Cheat Sheet

05/31/202302/07/2019 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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Are you worried about finding the right college for your kids? Does the idea of researching colleges make you nervous? Do you find the idea of finding and paying for college daunting? Do you just want to know how to get started? If you answered “yes” to any to the previous questions, I’ve got a college search cheat sheet for you.

Why You Should Pay More Attention to College Graduation Rates Rather Than Retention Rates

07/24/201807/24/2018 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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picture of graduates representing difference between graduation rates and freshman retention rates Anyone who reads my blog for a while will realize that I have a thing about college graduation rates. One of the “50’s” in my 50-50 schools is graduation rates. And I can’t say it’s just something I started paying attention to as my son got closer to college. My master’s report was on high school graduation rates. Yeah, I was playing with graduation rates before most people ever heard of them. So no one should be surprised that I want to be clear about the difference between graduation rates and freshman retention rates and why it matters.

Public Universities Where at Least Half of Students Graduate

02/26/202106/28/2018 by Michelle Kretzschmar

college graduates representing public university graduation rates

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The idea behind the 50-50 school listing is to identify colleges that meet a basic standard, graduation rates, while accepting more students than they reject. However, acceptance rates of 50% or better do not guarantee accessibility for many students. The fact is that the majority of the 50-50 schools are private and not all are generous with their financial aid.

Why Your College List Should Start with Your Flagship University

06/08/202202/13/2018 by Michelle Kretzschmar

A young woman in glasses and a white top smiles at the camera, holding a green folder that contains a list of flagship universities. Several people stand blurred in the background.

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Long time readers of my blog know that I think that the start of any college search should begin with estimating your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). This simply sets the baseline for how much you should expect to pay. The next step should be looking up your state flagship university. Why? Because while your EFC sets your financial expectations, your state flagship serves as the ideal reference point for adding and comparing the schools you add to your final college list.

50-50 Highlights: Colleges with Highest Graduation Rates by State

02/28/202110/19/2017 by Michelle Kretzschmar

A group of graduates from a state with the highest college graduation rates joyfully throwing their mortarboards into the air under a clear sky.

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The idea behind listing 50-50 colleges is that they offer most high school students a reasonable chance of admissions with an equally reasonable chance of graduation. As I’ve mentioned before, the most expensive college is the one you don’t graduate from. And while depressing, a 50% graduation rate is actually a fairly high standard. Out of 1,586 colleges, only 458 have a 50% or better graduation rate. Even so, you have to wonder, how high of a graduation rate is possible while still admitting at least 50% of students?

50-50 Highlights: Colleges with the Best Graduation Rates

02/28/202105/18/2017 by Michelle Kretzschmar

happy college graduates representing colleges with the best graduation rates

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People are generally a little surprised when I recommend using 50% as the minimum graduation rate for looking for colleges. It does seem like a pretty low standard but the fact is that only approximately a quarter of colleges and universities have a four-year graduation rate of 49% or higher. If you use the five-year rate for public institutions, than then number increases to about a third of all schools.

Does College Size Matter?

05/03/202202/14/2017 by Michelle Kretzschmar

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small ship and large ship representing question does college size matter As high school students get closer to graduation, you’re likely to hear declarations that I could never go to a college that small or I could never go to a college that big. Does college size really matter and, if so, matters for what?

So why would college size matter? Theoretically, you would think because it would influence the type of education opportunities available.

50-50 Highlights: Colleges with the Most Science Majors

02/28/202112/08/2016 by Michelle Kretzschmar

student in lab coat representing colleges with most sicence majors

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When you think about research at colleges and universities, you probably picture people in white lab coats measuring something or ~~blackboards~~ whiteboards covered with endless equations. These are the places you go to really understand how things work in the math and sciences.