March 2021

At 67 percent, our four-year graduation rate is the highest in the Midwest and higher than the University of Minnesota (59 percent) and Minnesota State universities (29 percent) systems.

Compared to other states’ four-year graduation rates — for both public and private institutions — our rate ranks second nationally. The higher four-year grad rate is among private nonprofit colleges in Rhode Island.

Graduation rates look at the pool of students who start as full-time, first-time first-year students and consider how many are earning their degree four years later. Some students transfer or decide not to complete a degree, so that can lower a grad rate. Another way of looking at outcomes is to start instead by looking at those earning a degree and consider how long it took them to do so. Among those students who start at and graduate from our 17 institutions, nine out of 10 complete their degree in four years or less. That compares to eight out of 10 at the University of Minnesota and six out of 10 at Minnesota State universities.