NAICU - Guest Post: College grad rates are ‘bad data’

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Guest Post: College grad rates are ‘bad data’

Washington Post "College Inc." Blog

January 31, 2012

Patricia McGuire, president, Trinity Washington University, writes: According to the federal formula for calculating college graduation rates, close to a majority of all college students are dropouts or lost to the system entirely, even if they have earned degrees. For Trinity and many similar universities enrolling large numbers of students who transfer in, or who are part-time students, or who are "non-traditional" by many other factors, a majority of the degrees awarded go to students who don't count in the federal data system. The collegiate graduation rate may well be the most poorly constructed and misunderstood statistic in all of higher education.

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