College is the best four years of your life. This maxim is slowly becoming obsolete, however, since four years is no longer the amount of time most students spend in college, according to statistics released by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
At most of the state's 15 four-year public colleges, less than 50 percent of freshmen graduate within six years.
But the University defies this trend, boasting a six-year graduation rate of 91.3 percent to top the list. William & Mary ranks second, with 88.2 percent. After the top two, numbers decrease significantly into the 70s and below.
To account for "changing needs and expectations between businesses and students," including a rising number of five-year programs, SCHEV calculates the number of students who graduate in six years as opposed to the "traditional four," SCHEV spokesman Paul Nardo said.
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University spokeswoman Louise Dudley attributes the University's high graduation rate to "both the nature of the University and the quality and preparation of students.
"Being a selective university, we can choose students with strong academic credentials ... and we have enough classes to meet student interest," Dudley said. She also cites nonacademic features, including residence halls, libraries and Internet access, as important factors in maintaining student interest in the University.
One of the most striking aspects of the statistics is the wide range of graduation rates among state universities - from 91.3 to 19.8 percent.
Dudley said she attributes the span to the variety of institutions serving different needs across the state, such as accommodating non-traditional students who do not intend to graduate.
"Graduation rates alone do not make adequate provision for the fact that many college students today are non-traditional," Nardo said.
Students who enroll in college with intentions of taking only a few classes to aid their professional careers are included in statistics, lowering the graduation rates for some schools.
Urban college students are more likely to work to support high tuition and costs of living, prohibiting them from taking a standard course load and consequently postponing graduation, Nardo said.
Transfer students also cloud the statistics. A student who transfers out of a school is counted as "not graduating" even if the student receives a degree from another institution.
Flaws such as these have caused members of SCHEV to question the current rating system and to caution people against reading too much into the statistics.
"Traditional measures, such as graduation and retention rates, are becoming outdated with changing times," Nardo said.
Nardo suggested a better measure based on a comparison of actual graduation rates with statistically predicted graduation rates at each college.
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