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Higher Education Association Blasts Graduation Rate Data Used in Think Tank Report

by Michelle J. Nealy , June 9, 2009

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The AASCU also calls into question the Graduation Rate Survey’s failure to account for an institution’s mission and the characteristics of its student body. Failure to include an institution’s mission or demographic make-up undermines the efforts of institutions, such as historically Black and Hispanic-Serving institutions, whose missions have less selective admissions criteria and are student-access driven, the policy brief insists.

While historically Black colleges and universities may be known for their commitment to serving low-income, first generation college students and underserved populations, only 11 of the HBCUs listed in AEI’s report have graduation rates above 50 percent.

 

Dwayne Ashley, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, said in a statement, “Federal graduation data must include the growing numbers of transfer and part-time students.

 

Dr. Kathleen Ross, president of Heritage University in Washington state, told The Seattle Times that the federal statistics used in the report are unfair and that the numbers do not account for students who transfer in from community colleges, who make up the majority of her institutions student body. They also do not account for those who take more than six years to graduate because of work and family obligations, she added

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