Benchmark claims a 97% graduation rate. Doesn that signify a sucessful program?
Prospective students and their parents are usually told this statistic on the tour of Benchmark by Richard Brimhall. It is not provided in writing for several reasons. Such a statistic does not signify a successful program, rather only the rate at which they classify students as “graduated”. Students are graduated after they AWOL and never return, or after they are dropped on the streets after their parents run out of money. Since most educational consultants, and organizations shy away from outright “enrollment bonusus” (to provide an appearance of neutrality) most allow, instead, “graduation bonusus”, which sounds relatively benign. In order to be able to compensate educational consultants for referring to benchmark, and for statistical purposes, Benchmark classifies nearly 97% of it’s students as successful graduates.
