There are many considerations that you should use to decide which college is right for you. Having the right major is one of the most important, as will be the reputation of the college, its size, location, and student body. Another aspect you should look for when researching your college options is the graduation rate; this can tell you a lot about the quality of the education provided by a college.
Degree courses in the US are based around a four-year program of study, but across all institutions offering degrees, the average time it takes students to graduate is over five years. The reasons for this are numerous. It might be that a student changes their major, or there are personal circumstances that result in them taking time out from their studies, but it might also reflect difficulties in getting a place on popular courses or struggling to pass a graduation requirement.
Graduating in four years means reducing the cost of college; if you take longer, additional tuition, accommodation, and food will need to be paid for. This is where the institution’s graduation rate comes in.
The graduation rate is expressed as a percentage of those starting at the college as a freshman who go on to graduate from the same institution; they will usually show this as a four and six-year graduation rate. If the institution has a high graduation rate within four years, it suggests that the odds of completing the degree in that time are good.
It is important to note that the graduation rate is not the same as the retention rate, which shows the percentage of students who return to the same college for their second year.
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the colleges and universities in the United States with the highest six-year graduation rates include:
· Yale University (97.5%)
· Princeton University (97.3%)
· Harvard University (96.4%)
· Dartmouth College (95.9%)
· Harvey Mudd College (95.9%)
· University of Pennsylvania (95.7%)
· Duke University (95.4%)
· Bowdoin College (95.2%)
· University of Notre Dame (95.2%)
· Amherst College (95.2%)
Out of the public colleges, those with the highest graduation rates are:
· U of Virginia (94.6%)
· College of William and Mary (92.1%)
· U of Michigan at Ann Arbor (91.6%)
· U of California Berkley (91.1%)
· U of North Carolina Chapel Hill (90.9%)
· U of California Los Angeles (90.9%)
· U of Florida (88%)
· U of Wisconsin Madison (87.2%)
· The College of New Jersey (86.6%)
· U of Maryland at College Park (85.4%)
Other colleges that are popular with our students include:
· Georgia Institute of Technology (85.3%)
· U of Washington Seattle (84.4%)
· U of Texas at Austin (82.7%)
