What College Has The Lowest Graduation Rate?

When choosing a college, one of the most important things to check is the graduation rate of the institution. This graduation rate determines how many students in the college finished and attained their degrees in a certain time frame. A higher rate notes an active and determined student body while a lower rate means there are plenty of students that take much longer.  Here we will see about What College Has The Lowest Graduation Rate?

Martin University in Indianapolis has a graduation rate of 2%, and it is especially for adult learners, students belonging to low-income households, and minorities. 

Yeshivas Novominsk College has a graduation rate of 3%. This college is in New York City, New York, and this institution offers Talmudical Yeshiva education to its students. Yeshivas Novominsk focuses on imparting Jewish education to its students. It’s a small institution that doesn’t enroll more than 165 undergraduates. Most of the low graduation rates are found in colleges such as this and community colleges. 

These colleges stray away from ‘conventional’ teaching that you’ll find in public colleges and elite colleges. They also have a high acceptance rate, usually taking in most students that apply for these colleges. A graduation rate of less than 12% is found in Southwest Tennessee Community College, Rio Salado College, East Georgia College, and the University of Akron-Wayne College.

A high graduation rate means the time taken by the students to finish their four-year degree in the determined time; the more time they take, the lower the graduation rate drops. The graduation rate shouldn’t be compared to a dropout rate, which falls into a different category. Students can take a break from their respective courses at any year, and a multitude of reasons prolong their graduation period. 

Many colleges with low graduation rates have students that work either part-time or full-time jobs. The graduation rate also works as a way to measure the standard of that particular institution. You’ll notice that elite colleges like Yale and Harvard have high graduation rates.

What College Has The Lowest Graduation Rate?

Reasons Why Some College Have Low Graduation Rate

Why does Harvard have a graduation rate of 96% compared to the 7% at Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City? This number denotes that the students at Harvard finished their degrees at a far timelier mannered than the students at Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City. Many public colleges across the country have a yearly average of below 10% graduation rates. 

There are plenty of factors that come into play as to why the graduation rates are so low in so many colleges across North America. The acceptance rate at most colleges with low graduation rates is moderately high, which means that most applicants get admitted. The difference between an elite college and a college with a low graduation rate is that the elite college is extremely selective with its admission process. 

Colleges with high graduation rates often admit students that show excellent caliber in committing themselves to their field of study. The same can’t be said for colleges with low graduation rates, where students often end up leaving for long periods because they realize college isn’t for them or they simply don’t have the motivation to sit through all the semesters. 

Students often take gap years and leave of absence due to unforeseeable circumstances, which further deters the graduation rate of their institution. Colleges with high acceptance rates and low graduation rates allow students to work full-time and part-time to earn the education they want while working without the burden of carrying a bunch of student loans.

While reputed institutions with low acceptance rates like Columbia or Princeton won’t look at your admission form unless you present remarkable intelligence in some field, colleges with high acceptance rates take the risk of allowing every student to prove themselves. 

College With The Lowest Graduation Rate

Many colleges around the country have a graduation rate of less than 30%. Many religious colleges tend to have a low graduation rate along with a multitude of community colleges. Plenty of these colleges don’t have the resources to provide a full-fledged learning experience for their students, they’re often understaffed, and many other reasons center around financial instability surrounding the institution and the students. 

Many students join community colleges only to transfer to a public college to save money, and this in turn decreases the graduation rate of the community college. This is why it’s important to understand that a low graduation rate does not equate to a bad college necessarily. 

Here are some of them:

  • Kent State University at East Liverpool (19%)
  • Purdue University Northwest – Westville Campus (17%)
  • Cameron University (20%)
  • Paine College (14%)
  • University of Alaska Southeast (30%)
  • Langston University (9%)
  • East-West University (11%)
  • Brewton-Parker College (23%)
  • Yeshivas Novominsk College (3%)
  • Martin University (2%)

A low graduation rate highly affects the way a college is perceived. Low graduation rates are normal if the institutions were constructed solely to support students who can’t pay the hefty tuition demanded by reputed public colleges with higher graduation rates. These individuals are usually either busy working part-time or full-time or taking their time to understand their options and courses thoroughly while pursuing their degree. 

Conclusion

There are many colleges with low graduation rates, and Martin University has the lowest rate of 2% along with Yeshivas Novominsk College following the former at 3%. Low graduation doesn’t technically mean that the institution is bad, but rather that the students fail to ensure their degree in the specified period. Most colleges with low graduation rates simply accept any type of student and their tuition fees are far less than most public colleges with a graduation rate higher than 70%. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

What Is A Good Graduation Rate For A College?

A good graduation rate for most colleges would be higher than 75%. Most public colleges these days have a graduation rate of 65% to 75%, so most colleges higher than that have a student body that’s determined to graduate within the stipulated time.

Which State Has The Lowest Graduation Rate?

West Virginia has the lowest graduation rate as of 2022 with around a 21% average.