They Just Can’t Seem to Finish College

The AP today ran a story about how hard it is to get students to finish college. While for decades higher education leaders focused on getting more and more high schoolers to enroll in college, today, just 54% of them ever get a degree–six years later! The era of the perpetual student has given way to a mass ‘I give up,” when it comes to college.

Graduation rates have been stagnating for years, especially in the lesser known ‘non elite’ schools. Minnesota, for example, barely graduates 40 % of its students, while Penn State sends 80 percent packing with sheepskins. Some take issue with the fact that high schools with similar graduation rates get taken to task, while people don’t seem to be as upset with this happening in colleges, even though high school is free and college leaves you with loans.