Which colleges don't have difficult competition/grading?

danas
Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:04:31 +0000

Hampshire and Reed have very low graduation rates, given the strength of their students. I can’t say why.
Going back a generation (mine) the mean GPA at my flagship public was 2.3, with a 2.0 needed to graduate. Easily 40% of my friends flunked out within the first two years. It was simply the math.
From what I’ve heard, the school has since gone in the opposite direction. I think I heard it leads the national pack in “Students Hardly Ever Study” and “No. 1 Party School”.
The USN&WR has tried to come up with a metric on 6 year graduate rate vs. expected rate given the students enrolled. IMO this is a public service. I would ask questions of school officials and students if there seemed to be a gap between the two, in whichever direction.