This week USED, specifically the postsecondary division of NCES, is hosting a Technical Review Panel for calculating placement rates for all vocational degree and certificate programs at traditional two- and four-year colleges, and all programs at for-profit institutions (except liberal arts degrees). We will be watching this carefully to determine if USED, and especially David Bergeron of the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), is out to stick it to the for-profit sector.
We hope that reason will prevail and the members of the Panel will choose to recommend a course of fairness instead of targeting a group of institutions that are simply different in their funding source.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Graduates in Four-years v. Four-year Graduation Rates
The percent of graduates who complete a degree in four years from start to finish is not the same thing as a four-year graduation rate.
The former measure is a backward-looking measure. It looks at all the graduates in a given year and then checks back to see what percentage started at the institution within the previous four years.
The latter measure, a four-year graduation rate, is a forward-looking measure in that it starts with a group or cohort of similar students (in this case, first-time in college, full-time at first enrollment) and checks to see what percentage of these students completed their degree within four years.
Why does this matter?
An article in the Richmond Times Dispatch reports on Randolph-Macon College's new commitment to (certain) students: The Ashland college announced this week it will waive tuition costs for any additional courses needed to complete a degree if a student isn't able to graduate in four years, provided certain requirements are met. The article goes on to report, based on the announcement on the college's website, that 95% of graduates complete their degree within four years and that this is a much higher rate than the four-year completion rate for all graduates at private colleges (almost 80%) and for public institutions (below 50%). The source of the data is the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU).
R-MC and NAICU should know better. The comparisons they are making are not appropriate. They are, in fact, deceitful. Note: We should probably be fair to NAICU as we do not know they were complicit in this deceit.
So, what is the real story here?
First, we assume that nearly all students graduating from R-MC probably do graduate within four-years. It is simply too expensive not do so.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) maintains an excellent website, College Navigator, that is quite useful for finding and comparing colleges. It's data is based on annual surveys, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), required of all Title IV (federal student aid programs) participating institutions. It reveals that only 56% of all the students at Randolph-Macon starting in the Fall of 2003 graduated in four-years or less. Only 63% graduated within six years.
This is a far cry from 95%.
How does this compare to other institutions? Well, one can either explore other colleges with College Navigator or try something closer to home. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) maintains a lot of data about public and private institutions in Virginia.
In fact, one can find the 2003 cohort graduation rates for R-MC and the rest of private, non-profit colleges, and the public institutions, all in one place place. Surprisingly, or not if you are familiar with Virginia colleges, R-MC's graduation rate is nothing to brag about. Washington & Lee University, University of Richmond, James Madison University, University of Mary Washington, Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Virginia all have much higher four-year graduation rates and substantially higher six-year rates.
R-MC is a middle of the pack private institution, struggling to survive.
As to the value of the "Four-Year Degree Guarantee", let's take a look.
The student must satisfy the following policies:
*Complying with the academic requirements related to course load, number of courses, satisfactory progress, GPA, and timely declaration of major
*Meeting regularly (the College recommends twice per semester) with the academic advisor and following the advice provided by this advisor
*Registering and selecting courses in a timely fashion
*Submitting an application for degree in the academic year in which graduation is anticipated
*Satisfying all financial obligations to the College
*Avoiding any academic or judicial suspension or action that delays graduation
Let's condense: If you do everything you are told to do, take a full course load, make good grades, and don't screw up, we guarantee you will graduate in four-years; if we make a mistake, we'll waive your costs for the remaining courses.
We are pretty sure that any student that did these things at all but the most poorly managed or most cash-strapped institutions would graduate in four-years.
The former measure is a backward-looking measure. It looks at all the graduates in a given year and then checks back to see what percentage started at the institution within the previous four years.
The latter measure, a four-year graduation rate, is a forward-looking measure in that it starts with a group or cohort of similar students (in this case, first-time in college, full-time at first enrollment) and checks to see what percentage of these students completed their degree within four years.
Why does this matter?
An article in the Richmond Times Dispatch reports on Randolph-Macon College's new commitment to (certain) students: The Ashland college announced this week it will waive tuition costs for any additional courses needed to complete a degree if a student isn't able to graduate in four years, provided certain requirements are met. The article goes on to report, based on the announcement on the college's website, that 95% of graduates complete their degree within four years and that this is a much higher rate than the four-year completion rate for all graduates at private colleges (almost 80%) and for public institutions (below 50%). The source of the data is the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU).
R-MC and NAICU should know better. The comparisons they are making are not appropriate. They are, in fact, deceitful. Note: We should probably be fair to NAICU as we do not know they were complicit in this deceit.
So, what is the real story here?
First, we assume that nearly all students graduating from R-MC probably do graduate within four-years. It is simply too expensive not do so.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) maintains an excellent website, College Navigator, that is quite useful for finding and comparing colleges. It's data is based on annual surveys, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), required of all Title IV (federal student aid programs) participating institutions. It reveals that only 56% of all the students at Randolph-Macon starting in the Fall of 2003 graduated in four-years or less. Only 63% graduated within six years.
This is a far cry from 95%.
How does this compare to other institutions? Well, one can either explore other colleges with College Navigator or try something closer to home. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) maintains a lot of data about public and private institutions in Virginia.
In fact, one can find the 2003 cohort graduation rates for R-MC and the rest of private, non-profit colleges, and the public institutions, all in one place place. Surprisingly, or not if you are familiar with Virginia colleges, R-MC's graduation rate is nothing to brag about. Washington & Lee University, University of Richmond, James Madison University, University of Mary Washington, Virginia Military Institute, and the University of Virginia all have much higher four-year graduation rates and substantially higher six-year rates.
R-MC is a middle of the pack private institution, struggling to survive.
As to the value of the "Four-Year Degree Guarantee", let's take a look.
The student must satisfy the following policies:
*Complying with the academic requirements related to course load, number of courses, satisfactory progress, GPA, and timely declaration of major
*Meeting regularly (the College recommends twice per semester) with the academic advisor and following the advice provided by this advisor
*Registering and selecting courses in a timely fashion
*Submitting an application for degree in the academic year in which graduation is anticipated
*Satisfying all financial obligations to the College
*Avoiding any academic or judicial suspension or action that delays graduation
Let's condense: If you do everything you are told to do, take a full course load, make good grades, and don't screw up, we guarantee you will graduate in four-years; if we make a mistake, we'll waive your costs for the remaining courses.
We are pretty sure that any student that did these things at all but the most poorly managed or most cash-strapped institutions would graduate in four-years.
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