<p>Looks like the Swarthmore Institutional Research department updated most of the Factbook statistical pages this week to include the Fall 2005 data:</p>
<p><a href=“Institutional Effectiveness, Research & Assessment :: Swarthmore College”>Institutional Effectiveness, Research & Assessment :: Swarthmore College;
<p>This link takes you to a ton of current and historical data.</p>
<p>Just from a brief perusal, only a few items really jump out. Obviously the admissions data changed this year with a reduction in acceptance rate and an increase in yield. Math and Verbal SATs stayed the same.</p>
<p>The item that stood out more was a significant increase in four-year graduation rate, which increased to what I think is an all-time high of 90.8% for the class of 2005. This is about a 5% jump over each of the two prior years and an 8% jump over the 4-year rates published in USNEWS in the two most recent editions (Class of '01 and '02).</p>
<p>Interestingly, the jump for the Class of '05 corresponds to the first class of freshmen arriving at Swarthmore after the decision to drop football. </p>
<p>By comparison, there was a two-year dip in 4-year grad rates for the Class of '01 and '02, students who would have been in their third and fourth years when the very controversial decision to drop football was made.</p>
<p>Here’s the historical data:</p>
<p><a href=“Institutional Effectiveness, Research & Assessment :: Swarthmore College”>Institutional Effectiveness, Research & Assessment :: Swarthmore College;