jhlphs

I was interested in applying to the University of Cincinnati however, on my search I found that their 4-year graduation rate is only 21% (I got this numbers from usnews.com). I was wondering if this is a bad sign because otherwise it seems like a decent school. Any help/ suggestions/ opinions would be greatly appreciated.

happymomof1

The only graduation rate that truly matters is your own.

Will you be attending full-time, or will you be attending part-time because of family or work responsibilities?

Are a lot of the courses in your major in a strict sequence (this is very common in Engineering or Nursing)? If so, are they offered every semester, or does repeating a class mean that a student needs to wait a whole year?

Are many of the classes oversubscribed so students who need that class often can't get into the course at all? If so, how long must someone be in the major before they can get priority for scheduling?

If you will attend full-time, the courses that you need aren't locked into a sequence and/or are available every semester, and you will always be able to get into the classes that you need, there is no reason whatsoever to believe that you can't finish in four years provided that you actually do all of the work required for those classes.

rachelm57

Yes. That could mean that the students are an unmotivated crowd. Or that the classes are demanding and that students need more than 4 years to graduate. It also means that if you do attend, you may want to consider the possibility of having to finance another year- or two!

zobroward

if that number is correct, that is terrible! it sounds like a revolving door of students (almost like a community college or worse) what is the freshman retention rate?that number is also a very important number!

vonlost

At some schools it's hard to get the classes you need in order to graduate in four years; that's why some use the six-year rate to compare schools. How does UoC compare in that regard?

cc123sb

The school's six year rate isn't much better: 55%.

ECAdmStudent

What major would you be considering? UC is very strong in architecture and a few other things.

ucbalumnus

Graduation rates that low are typical of less selective non-flagship state universities.

The reasons for delayed graduation include:

* Many students need remedial course work.
* Many students fail courses and need to repeat them.
* Many students change major late.
* Many students attend part time, or take semesters off, to work to earn money for college. (This can include co-op jobs.)
* If the college is inexpensive, students have less incentive to graduate on time.
* Courses needed for your major or on-time graduation are overfull or not offered frequently enough for you to take them between completing the prerequisites and graduating on time.

Of the above reasons, the last one would be the one of most concern to a student who needs no remedial course work, does not fail courses, and does not change major late. (If you do need remedial course work, fail courses, or change major late, it is not the college's fault that you graduate late.) You may want to ask on the college-specific forum or people you know at the college about whether this is a problem.

tk21769

^ Another possible reason is that financial aid is poor, and many students cannot afford to finish school without taking time off to work.

Cincinnati awards scholarship/grant aid to less than half of all students determined to have need. On average, aid that is granted only covers about 2/3 of determined need.

spurster

A six year graduation rate of 55% is about average.

Diplomas and Dropouts - Education - AEI

mom2collegekids

If the school has a lot of commuter students, then often it will have a lower 4 year graduation rate because students are going to college part-time, working their way thru college.

It doesn't automatically mean that the students aren't "serious". Many, many kids just don't have full funding support to be able to solely focus on school and take the 15/16 credits each semester to graduate on time.

Hanna

It is a decent school.

It's worth thinking about your goals for college. If you are mostly looking for the education and credential, then what other students are doing doesn't matter much. But if the social and community aspects of college are important to you, the fact that there's a lot of turnover among your classmates is a significant down side. It's hard to build a tight group of friends if a lot of them don't return from one semester to the next, and even harder to build continuity in an organization like a newspaper, fraternity, or sports team.

There's no right answer as to whether the second set of concerns ought to be a problem for you or not. If those things don't matter to you, then don't worry about them.

jhlphs

I believe the retention rate is around 84% (not sure of the exact number) but I am especially concerned because I would like to double major in psychology and Spanish as a pre-med so if getting classes is a problem then it would take me FOREVER to graduate.
I hear that U of Cincinnati does have a pretty large co-op program. Perhaps that is the reason.

thanks for all the help guys!

mom2collegekids

because I would like to double major in psychology and Spanish as a pre-med so if getting classes is a problem then it would take me FOREVER to graduate.


Med schools do not care about "double majors". Just pick ONE major, do well in it. Choose the other as either a minor or just take the classes that interest you. The goal is to graduate in 4 years with the highest GPA and head to med school.

jhlphs

I wanted to major in Spanish because I hope to gain fluency. That's the reason why I intend to double major