Utah graduation rates lagging

Barely more than half of the state's students graduate in 6 years, according to study

Published: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 11:16 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 

Utah is lagging behind on its promise to deliver college degrees to students, as just more than half make it to graduation day, a new report shows.

The more than 1 million students who will enter college this year most likely anticipate earning a degree at some point and "are not thinking in terms of failure," Kevin Carey, co-author of "Diplomas and Dropouts: Which Colleges Actually Graduate Their Students (and Which Don't)" said Tuesday during a conference call with media.

In the report released Tuesday, researchers with the American Enterprise Institute expose a dramatic variation in completion rates among nearly 1,400 colleges and universities nationwide. Although Utah's rates fall within the national average, the report's authors believe there is room for a marked improvement among institutions with similar admissions criteria and students.

Utah Commissioner of Higher Education William A. Sederburg said he believes the state's schools can do better, and that there is a task force in place working on solutions to increase retention and graduation rates. He said rates might even be lower than reported because not all four-year schools are included.

Story continues below

Data from the U.S. Department of Education, gathered from the 2001 freshman class, was used to examine graduation rates across schools with similar levels of admissions criteria, in categories from "noncompetitive" to "most competitive."

Brigham Young University boasted one of the top five graduation rates among very competitive schools such as Willamette and University of California at Davis, reporting that 78 percent of its students graduated after six years.

Utah State University also landed among the top five noncompetitive schools, listing a 45 percent graduation rate among its 13,000-plus students. However, other schools in Utah seemed to be further behind peer institutions, with the University of Utah, designated a more competitive school, graduating 56 percent, while Southern Utah University reports a 41 percent rate and Weber State University a 29 percent graduation rate in 2007. The latter two schools are considered noncompetitive.

National results indicate that fewer than 55 percent of first-time students at the average four-year college graduate within six years, and at many institutions, students have less than a one in three chance of earning a degree — even as they spend thousands of dollars on tuition and go thousands of dollars in debt.

"Such differences suggest that while student motivation, finances, and ability matter greatly when it comes to college completion, the practices of higher education institutions matter, too," said Frederick M. Hess, lead author of the report.

Recent comments

This response is directed at Questioning-6-years. Clearly, the...

Emily A. | July 16, 2009 at 9:17 a.m.

College graduation expected in 6 years? Only one who merely did...

Questioning-6-years | June 4, 2009 at 11:24 a.m.

Utah puts the "ding-dong" into the bell curve. This is really much...

conGradulations | June 4, 2009 at 10:42 a.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

The number: Global warming

uh, deniers? what about the physicists, paleo-botanists, ocenaographers,...

Letters: Earth at center?

To "Mike Richards | 7:32 a.m." actually people would like to be able to ask...

Letters: Modest tax hike needed

I'm sick of the tax funded teachers who whine non-stop about what they are...

Few details on missing W.V. mom

...there's no good outcome. She's not hiding from anyone. She wouldn't...

Is it just me or did Sloan look completely confused and disoriented every...

Letters: Earth at center?

. . . the Earth IS the center of the universe. There's a strong consensus...

You're right, we are all going to die! Thanks for your humoristic sarcasm!

I doubt any scouts or families were going to stumble on this group at night....

The argument that there are other more important things to do is a red...

Demystifying Federal Reserve

This issue is tough to understand. Getting rid of the Fed may be a good goal,...

Advertisements