Why Use Four-Year Graduation Rates?
Traditionally college education in America has been viewed, particularly by students and their parents, as a four-year educational investment. In recent times, the higher education sector has increasingly relied upon five- or even six-year graduation rates as a measure for how successful students complete their program of study at American colleges and universities. Consistent with our approach in constructing previous rankings, we have chosen to incorporate the four-year graduation rate rather than the five- or six-year graduation rates used in other college rankings. Because all of the schools included in this sample are classified as offering instructional programs which are “four years or more” by the U.S. Department of Education, it is perfectly legitimate for assessing these schools using a four-year graduation rate. After all, prospective students arguably view that “four years or more” classification as an implication that they can graduate from any of these schools within four
