New college data give fuller picture of graduation rates — and show challenges

From the Washington Post:

Dozens of public universities across the country..., report that fewer than half of their full-time freshmen in 2007 earned bachelor’s degrees after six years at those schools or after switching to other schools.

That finding emerges from an unusual cache of data posted on a nongovernmental Web site to provide what sponsors call “a more comprehensive and accurate picture” of college outcomes than can be found in federal records. The new data put a rare spotlight on a crucial group: transfer students.

The government tracks graduation rates for first-time, full-time students who finish where they began. But that omits the huge number who hop from school to school. Colleges are now stepping forward to fill in gaps in public knowledge through a site called Student Achievement Measure.

So far, 250 public colleges and 16 private schools have disclosed details about outcomes for the class that entered in fall 2007, including the proportions that:

●Graduated from their original school within six years.

●Graduated from other schools.

●Were still enrolled in quest of degrees.

●Had dropped out or were for some other reason untrackable.

These questions matter because every college student who fails to finish has invested a significant amount of money and effort — possibly going into debt — without reaping any of the economic or social benefits of obtaining a degree. Students of modest means, whose parents never went to college, are often those who face the highest hurdles in the effort to graduate.

This chart shows data for 266 colleges and universities, tracking outcomes for first-time, full-time students who entered college in 2007. See the chart.

Public School Student Enrollment, Graduates and Dropouts

Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2009-10

This First Look presents national and state level data on student enrollment by grade and by race/ethnicity within grade, the numbers of teachers and other education staff, and several student/staff ratios for the 2009-10 school year.


Public School Graduates and Dropouts from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2008–09

This report presents findings associated with public high school graduation and event dropout counts for the 2008–09 school year. These data were collected as part of the Common Core of Data Survey Collection, a universe collection of public schools operating in the United States and associated other jurisdictions.