At each of these schools, more than 27 percent of students graduate in four years, U.S. News data show.
By Delece Smith-Barrow | Reporter June 14, 2016, at 9:00 a.m.
The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or graduate school search.
Graduating in four years was once the norm for college students, but now more than a third of full-time students at four-year schools take more time to finish.
For first-time, full-time undergraduates who started in 2007, 59 percent graduated within six years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. At 72 historically black colleges, however, the average six-year graduation was 36 percent for full-time, first-time students who started school in fall of 2008, according to U.S. News data.
Switching majors, transferring schools and lacking money for school can affect how long it takes students to graduate.
[Decide if a historically black college is a good fit.]
Hundreds of students at many historically black colleges and universities, much like those at National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges, graduate in the traditional four years, saving them time and money that would be spent on additional tuition and fees.
At Spelman College in Atlanta, 67 percent of first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2008 graduated in four years. It had the highest four-year graduation rate among the 54 ranked historically black schools that submitted these data to U.S. News in an annual survey. Spelman is also the highest-ranked historically black institution.
It's one of three historically black schools with a four-year graduation rate above 40 percent. The other schools are Howard University in the District of Columbia and Hampton University in Virginia.
[Explore resources that prep minorities for college.]
The average four-year graduation rate among the top 10 schools was 36 percent; among all 54 ranked historically black schools that reported data, the average was 17.7 percent.
All but two of the 10 schools – Johnson C. Smith University and Xavier University of Louisiana – also had the highest six-year graduation rates among historically black schools. The six-year rate at Johnson C. Smith was 44 percent, and it was 43 percent at Xavier.
Below are the 10 historically black colleges and universities with the highest four-year graduation rates among first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2008. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
School name (state)
4-year graduation rate
U.S. News Historically Black Colleges and Universities rank
Spelman College (GA) 67% 1
Howard University (DC) 42.3% 2
Hampton University (VA) 41.2% 3
Morehouse College (GA) 39.5% 4
Claflin University (SC) 31.9% 8
Johnson C. Smith University (NC) 29.6% 16
Tougaloo College (MS) 29.1% 11
Bennett College (NC) 28.1% 15
Xavier University of Louisiana 27.8% 6
Bethune-Cookman University (FL) 27.5% 23
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find graduation rate data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2015 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The graduation rate data above are correct as of June 14, 2016.
Corrected on June 15, 2016: A previous version of this article misstated the name of Spelman College.
Delece Smith-Barrow |Reporter
Delece Smith-Barrow, a reporter for U.S. News who previously covered graduate schools, is on leave as a Knight-Wallace Fellow. You can follow her on Twitter.
Source:
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colle...
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