Why is Caltech's graduation rate so low?

jdhutchin
Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:11:25 +0000

Every year there are a few freshman and sophomores who decide that Caltech isn’t for them, and transfer out. Unlike many other schools, if you decide you don’t want to do math, science, or engineering, you really should transfer to somewhere else. This is also something that is impossible to tell before you get here- upon matriculation, you can’t really tell who these students are going to be.

Although I don’t think anyone has hard numbers, I suspect this accounts for many of the non-graduates. Very few people finish their degrees in more than 6 years. 88% is lower than other numbers I’ve seen for a 6-year graduation rate- it looks like this data is kinda old, and I’m pretty sure the number has risen in the past few years.