A "Calculator" to Compare College Costs and Graduation Rates

[Brigid in NC]

This nifty calculator compares college costs and graduation rates: College Reality Check. You can sort a number of different ways to make comparisons. Might be a helpful "first pass" for evaluating options. :001_smile:

[Kathie in VA]

this looks neat... thanks for sharing!

[tvaleri]

Thanks so much, Brigid!

 

Hello from Charlotte! :seeya:

 

Smiles,

Teresa

[Pawz4me]

That's a very useful site!

I'm shocked at the graduation rates of some of these schools. You'd think the super expensive ones would want to keep their customers.

[Nan in Mass]

I'm shocked at the graduation rates of some of these schools. You'd think the super expensive ones would want to keep their customers.

 

We happen to have a very expensive, easy-to-get-into, not-very-hard-to-graduate-from college near us. If you have the money, it is a great place. It is very supportive and tries hard to get all their students graduated, and yet won't graduate anyone that hasn't met their fairly modest graduation requirements. I think it can be a debt trap if you aren't wealthy or didn't receive enough scholarships. I always look at them and hope they have good (in the ethical sense as well as efficient and complete) financial aid counseling.

 

I think it depends what sort of college were you looking at? Some colleges are very selective about who they accept and don't accept anyone who might not be able to do the work and finish. Others are less selective and will give a wider variety of students a chance and then try hard to help them to graduate. Not all of the students manage to graduate but that is more because the student was not able (or just plain didn't) do the work than because of the college. Others have low graduation rates because they have very few services (like tutoring) or they don't have much financial aid to offer and students run out of money or because students are having trouble getting the classes they need to graduate. There are colleges that have high standards and are hard to get through and colleges that have lower standards and are easier to get through. Some colleges have many students who do internships and coop programs, which makes their four-year graduation rate lower. When you mix these factors together, it begins to get complicated. I guess I'm just as glad that there are colleges that are willing to live with a low graduation rate in order to accept many types of students and try to get them through their program, while still maintaining fairly high standards. The place where it gets if-y is the price. I always wonder about the expensive colleges with low graduation rates. They might be aimed at the wealthy and giving a chance to students who are late bloomers or who dealt with family problems, or who for whatever reason botched high school. Or they might be doing a really bad job of supporting their students and just sucking as much money out of people as possible.

 

If you want to go further than this initial calculator, you can think about how much support is available (good advising, tutoring, etc.), the academic abilities of the student body (all able, some less able students), the standards of work for the college (difficult, less difficult), the standards of teaching, the competativeness of various programs (is the college trying to weed out students), financial aid, and how many bells and whistles (like student fitness centers and organic food courts) the college provides.

 

Nan

I usually think of college acceptance as the finish line, but seeing so many colleges and universities near me on this list with 50% (or lower!) 6 year graduation rates, I need to remember that getting through college is just as important. Having a huge amount of debt and no degree is probably worse than no debt and no degree. But, I wonder how transfers out of a given college impact this published graduation rate.