^This. It is so misleading! My D graduated in four years, but she transferred after the first, so her graduating does not show up in either school’s statistics. that means that nationwide, grad rates are losing all students who transferred.
My S graduated from the same school he started at, but took 10 years, so his graduation doesn’t show up either.
I have always thought that the methodology should somehow show all the nation’s graduates, not just those who graduated within 4 or 6 years from the school they started at.