(THE PICKET)—The vast majority of students who began classes at Shepherd University in 2010 did not graduate in four years, according to a study by Shepherd’s Institutional Research.
Based on the analysis, 25 percent of Shepherd’s students who entered that year graduated in four years. That is a slight improvement over the graduation rate of those who entered Shepherd in 2009. Of that class, 20 percent graduated in four years.
The White House has issued college report cards, which list every college’s yearly average cost, start-up salary after graduation and graduation rate. According to this report card, which only accounts for full-time students enrolled for the first time, Shepherd only graduates a 41 percent average of incoming freshman over the course of six years.
Shepherd is not the only university dealing with low graduation and retention rates.
West Liberty University in Wheeling, W.Va., has 2,412 undergraduates. Its overall average graduation rate after six years for a four-four degree is 41 percent.
Mercy College, in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., also has similar numbers in attendance as Shepherd with 6,897 undergraduates and has a graduation average of 31 percent.
Sinclair Community College, in Dayton, Ohio, only graduates an average 15 percent of its undergraduates.
The amount of time it takes for students to graduate across the U.S. is a problem which is being addressed.
“Colleges around the nation are working to improve student completion rates for increasing numbers of non-traditional students … They are doing this by using data to identify barriers—and develop solutions—to student attrition such as reforming developmental education and providing end-to-end academic advising,” according to The Washington Post.
Another college that is working on the graduation rate problem, Mercy College, in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., is addressing the problem by creating teams to aid students in advisement.
The program that Mercy created is called Mercy’s Personalized Achievement Contract. These teams are geared to help students learn how to navigate a complex college environment, both in and out of the classroom. The personnel that lead these teams are trained to aid in academic advising, financial aid and to be engaged in each student’s education.
According to Ellucian, an agency for higher education, Mercy’s graduation rates have increased by 26 percent since the implementation of the program.
Sinclair Community College, in Dayton, Ohio, is also working on improving its graduation rate. In the article from the Washington Post, Sinclair is working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to adopt a research-based approach to create initiatives like Completion by Design. This initiative identifies where and when schools are losing students, and it will suggest and provide ways to improve on those areas.
Sinclair has created a system called “My Academic Plan,” which allows students to monitor their academic progress, and allows professors and advisors to alert students when grades are slipping. The efforts put in place due to the research and collection of data has allowed Sinclair to increase the number of students who graduate, and those that transfer in good standing, by 75 percent from 1999 to 2013.