Jubilation abounds in the month of May, and with good reason! In university auditoriums, basketball arenas, football stadiums, convention centers and other venues, jubilation fills the air as students, faculty, parents and guests gather for college commencements and the conferral of degrees. As a three-time university chancellor, it was always my favorite time of the academic year, and the one I miss most in retirement.
There was always something thrilling about the ceremony, the colorful academic regalia, and the Pomp and Circumstance graduation march music, even if played off-key, and even if commencement speakers routinely run over whatever time limit was emphasized when the invitation was extended. Even so, as a parent, I still get goose bumps when I recall attending our son’s college and law school graduation more than two decades ago. 
Dr. Charlie Nelms
When bachelor’s degrees are conferred this year, approximately 25 percent of the graduates will have completed their degree requirements in four years, while over 60 percent will have attended multiple universities and taken six or more years to graduate. In the international context, although the United States has one of the highest enrollment rates of students who attend an institution of higher education, as many as one in three students do not reach their second year.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, by 2019, some 63 percent of students had completed a bachelor’s degree at the same institution where they started in 2013. The 6-year graduation rate was 62 percent at public institutions, 68 percent at private nonprofit institutions, and 26 percent at private for-profit institutions. These statistics have real-life implications that will play out over the lifetime of students. Each year, thousands of students leave college burdened by monumental debt—and a haunting sense of failure. It can take years to recover from either, or both. Those who can least afford these burdens are most impacted by them.
Of course, graduation statistics vary by institutional type and the profile of students served. Those colleges and universities serving large numbers of first-generation and Pell-eligible students have significantly lower graduation rates than institutions serving students from high income quadrants. This gap is unacceptable, yet it stubbornly persists. The reasons why are for another column. Suffice it to say here that all types of colleges and universities can and must do a better job of graduating students they deem admissible, regardless of socioeconomic background. In my opinion, not doing so is a dereliction of responsibility!
