The amount of students who actually receive a degree from their institution of choice is an eye-opening figure. Many studies provide varied pieces of data pertaining to this subject because there are many different factors one must take into consideration. According to the United Press International as of June 3, 2009, 55% of students enrolled in college graduate within 6 six years time. This fact is merely an average percentage of all the institutions in the United States and does not always reflect the percentage of graduation for specific colleges.
Studies show that the more competitive an institution is, the higher the graduation rate is. This obviously makes sense because the students who worked hard to get into their university of choice want to come out being successful and receive that sought after degree. Motivation is a key factor when it comes down to graduating for a student. James Madison University, a very competitive and respected institution, graduates 81% of its students in approximately six years. On the other hand, the University of Louisville in Kentucky is a competitive institution, but it only graduates 44% of its students. This example proves that there may be more to this problem than just motivation.
What is difficult to understand is the fact that many students work so hard to get into college and a large percentage of those students cannot seem to follow through and graduate. Families make large investments in order to send their children to the institution of their choice, later to find that they did not receive what they expected with what their hard earned money bought them. Something needs to change because the graduation rate is something that people expect to be higher when there is so much at stake for each and every student.
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