Ranking first in graduation rates
Minnesota’s private colleges have the highest graduation rates in Minnesota. Two-thirds of full-time, first-time students (63 percent) at Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC) institutions graduate in four years. This is more than twice the rate of University of Minnesota students (29 percent) and more than four times the rate of MnSCU students (15 percent). By the sixth year after enrollment, 72 percent of MPCC first-time, full-time students have completed their degrees compared to 47 percent and 56 percent of their MnSCU and University of Minnesota peers respectively.
The MPCC graduation rate performance is even more impressive given that more than 25 percent of private college students come from families with incomes less than $50,000—about the same proportion as at the state’s public four-year colleges and universities. Furthermore, MPCC institutions enroll a higher percentage of Pell Grant recipients as a share of all undergraduate students than the University of Minnesota.
Institutional graduation rates serve as a performance measure for students and families. The rate at which full-time students complete their degrees can be an indirect indicator of the vitality of campus life, the availability of programs and courses and access to and quality of student services. The graduation rate also may serve to measure how well an institution recruits students who fit with the institution’s mission and will succeed on campus.
Keep in mind that consideration of composite graduation measures must not be punitive to those students needing both extra time and extra resources. Evaluation of graduation rates must take into account other measures including student transfer rates, institutional mission and programs and student and family circumstances.
Institutional graduation rates also should serve as important performance measures for taxpayers, students and families. During the 2004-2005 fiscal biennium, the state spent $2.5 billion from the general fund on higher education; 86 percent went to the public systems. The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus recently announced its new graduation rate goals: a four-year rate of 60 percent, a five-year rate of 75 percent, and a six-year rate of 80 percent – rates that surpass the current performance of MPCC member colleges.
Students and families contemplating enrollment in institutions with low graduation rates may want to consider whether:
- Delays in graduation indicate a lack of student services or course offerings;
- A large number of students will transfer to other institutions to obtain the degree they seek; or
- Delaying graduation will increase student costs through increased educational borrowing, other financial sacrifices or delayed income, in addition to tuition, fees, books, transportation and other course related costs.
Choosing a lower priced institution should be balanced with the odds of actually completing a degree on time.
For Minnesota’s economy, institutional graduation rates are an important indicator for monitoring workforce development. The Minnesota Private College Research Foundation calculated in 2004 that if current higher education participation and completion rates do not improve, Minnesota will be producing 3,100 fewer college graduates by 2012-13. Our failure to produce a robust supply of skilled workers will hinder economic development for the state.
The U.S. also is failing at getting students to complete their education. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2006) notes that high school and college graduation rates in the U.S. “are now both below the OECD average. Projecting these trends forward 10 years would see the U.S. share of the OECD-wide pool of highly qualified people fall from 41 percent to 36 percent.”
Ensuring student access and choice should not translate into poor system performance. The failure to make this distinction will cost both students and the state greatly.