11 Public Universities with the Worst Graduation Rate

[carnation]

Hm. Looks like most are branch campuses?

[AOII Angel]

As Carnation pointed out, Southern University NO is a branch university of Southern University an HBCU. The students served by Southern may have extremely low SATs but they come from a very poor and underserved area of New Orleans. This is not an unexpected revelation. Louisiana has many open enrollment universities that take area students. If a few students can actually succeed out of this environment, I am pleased.

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

As Carnation pointed out, Southern University NO is a branch university of Southern University an HBCU. The students served by Southern may have extremely low SATs but they come from a very poor and underserved area of New Orleans. This is not an unexpected revelation. Louisiana has many open enrollment universities that take area students. If a few students can actually succeed out of this environment, I am pleased.

^^ This! I was about to make a similar point.

I live in an area with one large public university, two small private religiously affiliated universities, two branches of a large state schools, and two junior colleges. Graduation rates are not all they are cracked up to be. For example, a student may start out at JCC because he or she didn't have the credentials to get into U of L. He or she does really well and transfers to U of L. The student shows up as a drop out of JCC, but does earn a degree at U of L. Statistics don't always tell the entire story.

Another thing I noticed was that most of the schools listed has reasonable tuition rates. They may be going after those "disadvantaged" students AA mentioned above and providing them with a chance to succeed.

[33girl]

I don't understand putting branches on here. Don't the majority of the students transfer to the main campus?

[IndianaSigKap]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I don't understand putting branches on here. Don't the majority of the students transfer to the main campus?

No the majority do not. Students are usually at the branch near me because:

1. They can't afford to pay the room and board. The branch enables them to live at home and earn a degree.
2. They don't have the academic chops to get into the main campus. They pretty much stay at the academic level and take 5-7 years to graduate.
3. They have to pay for their own school and have to work lots of hours to afford school.
4. They are afraid of the size of the main campus and like the branch's size.
5. They have helicopter parents who don't want them to go away to school and buy them a brand new car to stay close to home.

[IrishLake]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I don't understand putting branches on here. Don't the majority of the students transfer to the main campus?

Noooooooope. Very few, in fact.

Originally Posted by IndianaSigKap

No the majority do not. Students are usually at the branch near me because:

1. They can't afford to pay the room and board. The branch enables them to live at home and earn a degree.
2. They don't have the academic chops to get into the main campus. They pretty much stay at the academic level and take 5-7 years to graduate.
3. They have to pay for their own school and have to work lots of hours to afford school.
4. They are afraid of the size of the main campus and like the branch's size.
5. They have helicopter parents who don't want them to go away to school and buy them a brand new car to stay close to home.

This. In poor southern Appalachian Ohio, 1 and 3 especially. Ohio University's Branches are very popular around here. I work with many different technicians who have been taking one class at a time over the last 6 or 7 years. Several of them want to go back and finish, but just don't have the means to anymore. They go to OU-C, OU-S, OU-L, OU-Z, and OU-E because as high school graduates, they know they have to have SOME sort of higher education in order to get a decent paying job. So they start out at one of those OU branches, and get an entry level or part-time job somewhere. Factory, bank, administrative, etc. But they get older, life changes, they get married, have kids, and within 5-7 years after high school graduation, they're only halfway or two thirds through their college course load to get their bachelors. But in the meantime, since they've been working those past 5-7 years, they're gaining work experience. They're given raises, minor promotions, and get the opportunity to get special training and certifications through their employer. Finishing their degree no longer becomes a priority. Their job has become more demanding, and their personal lives no longer allow them to do so.

I work with a girl who technically got her degree from one of those OU branches. For her major though, she had to take quite a few classes at the main campus. That's not uncommon. It was hard, because it was a two hour round trip drive twice a week, but she made it work because she badly wanted her BA. Not only that, but enrolling in those classes through the branch versus the main campus was much more affordable. She took those classes with Main Campus students who paid a hell of a lot more than she did.

[KSUViolet06]

Two of KSU's branches are on the list, but I am pretty sure that they only offer 2 year degrees. You can START a BA/BS at any of them, but in order to finish, you have to transfer to Main or to another 4 year university.