4-Year Graduation Rates, Part II

Yesterday, I listed the public and private schools with the highest four year graduation rates. Today, I'll look at graduation rates based on median SAT scores. First, however, a few comments. Some have suggested to me that I use six year graduation rates, instead of four year. I disagree: most people want to graduate in four years, they go in expecting to do so, and failing to do so is often seen as a negative. Second, I have sorted out the graduation rates by public and private schools for a reason: it is unfair to compare public and private institutions directly because public insitutions overall tend to have lower graduation rates for a variety of reasons.

I decided to look at graduation rates as sorted by median institutional SAT scores for several reasons. First, most would say that higher SAT scores are an indication of being better prepared for college, and thus having better chances of graduating in the first place. The results clearly show that as median SAT scores rise, so does the four year grad rate. But, perhaps more importantly, I wanted to let you look at the group of schools closest to your SAT so that you could get an idea of which schools would be best bets for boosting your chances of graduating in four years. Although some might argue with me on this, I believe that 4-year graduation rates are a good measure of the school's support for its students. A very interesting article about what to look for in a college in terms of this type of support is Choosing to Improve.

Colleges with a median SAT below 1,000

Top publics: University of Toledo (42.3% graduation rate), Troy State U, AL (38.7), Radford U (34), University of Maryland-University College (32.5), Missippi University for Women (32)

Top privates: Gwynedd Mercy, PA (65), Regis College, MA(61.4), College of Mount St. Joseph, Ohio (59.2), Holy Family U,TN(59%), St. Joseph's College, ME(57.4)

Colleges with a median SAT between 1000-1100

Top publics: Longwood U, VA(41.6), Westerfield State, MA(39), Millersville U of PA (38.4), University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown (37.8), SUNY Plattsburgh (37.5)

Top privates: Randolph Macon College, VA(78.4), Simmons College, MA (71.4), Rosemont College, PA (68.4), Mount Saint Mary's College, MD (68), College Misericordia, PA (67.5), Hood College, MD(67.3)

Colleges with a median SAT between 1100-1200

Public: James Madison U, VA (60.6), University of Delaware (57.3), University of New Hampshire (54.3), SUNY Albany (53.5), University of Vermont (53)

Private: Simmons Rock College of Bard (82,4), Stone Hill College, Mass. (80.9), Susquehanna U, PA (75.8), St. Mary's College, Indiana (75.8), St. John's University, MN (74.4), Fairfield U, CT (74.1), Fordham, NY (73.7)

Colleges with a median SAT between 1200 and 1300

Public: SUNY Binghamton (69.9), University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill(69.5), St. Mary's College of Maryland (67.2), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (65.4), Miami U Ohio (64.5), SUNY Geneseo (64.2)

Private: College of the Holy Cross, Mass. (87.5), Bucknell, PA (83.7), Babson, Mass(83.5), Providence College, RI(82.2), Connecticut College (82.1), Lafayette College (82.1)

Colleges with a median SAT between 1300 and 1400

Public: University of Virginia (83.1), College of William & Mary (80.1), UC Berkeley (51.8)

Private: Georgetown (89.5), Davidson, NC(88.7), Haverford (88.6), Boston College (88), Wellesley (86.4)