Officials from Miami University, which had the second highest net tuition cost in the nation at $22,303, don’t argue with the report, but are quick to point out their students graduate sooner to reduce their costs.
Miami University has the highest graduation rate in four years among Ohio’s public universities, and the fifth highest in the state among all Ohio universities.
Earlier this year, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said graduating students sooner from universities is a goal of his administration.
“Our colleges need to think of themselves as a business and students as customers,” he said.
“I have taught in universities, and it’s not just Ohio universities, I’ve seen glaciers move faster than the decision making process of a university,” Kasick said.
According to a JournalNews analysis of data from the Chronicle of Higher Education’s College Completion website, which extracts information from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Post Secondary Education Data System, MU graduates 80 percent of its students within six years and 67 percent in four years.
By comparison, Ohio State University graduates 78.1 percent of its students in six years, Ohio University 65.3 percent, the University of Cincinnati 55.1 percent.
Graduating students sooner has allowed Miami to have one of the lowest cost per completion rates in the state. The average student spends $68,010 to graduate at Miami. At UC and Ohio State, the average student spends $84,466 and $99,123, respectively, before graduating.
Some of the state’s top-notch private universities — Oberlin, Kenyon, Denison and Case Western Reserve — have higher graduation rates, but spending per completion at those colleges and universities is nearly two to three times higher.
The University of Virginia has the highest graduation rate in the nation, with 84.5 percent of its students graduating in four years, 92.7 within six years.
It should be noted that the data is limited to tracking completions for groups of first-time, full-time degree-seeking students at the undergraduate level and do not contain information for students who drop out and re-enroll or complete a degree elsewhere.
The secret to a high graduation rate, according to Miami University officials, is maintaining a high level of student engagement, “the time and energy students devote to educationally purposeful activities and the effort colleges and universities devote to using effective educational practices.”
“Student engagement has been shown through a variety of studies to be positively related to first-year grades, persistence between the first and second year, graduation, satisfaction, learning and personal development,” said Barbara Jones, vice president for student affairs.
“It can include activities, intramural sports, leadership opportunities, participating or viewing the arts, group class sessions, time with faculty, NCAA sports, social groups, student research, service work and shared projects,” she said.
According to university spokeswoman Claire Wagner, it is also important to be aware of students who may need help in their first year or two of college, and Miami has established a set of “best practices” to involve students in all aspects of college life and help them succeed.
These best practices involve peer mentoring and faculty advising, regular periodic interventions and tutoring, and risk assessments for personal, social and academic reasons. If a first-year student fails to enroll for a second year, “We personally contact them to see if we can help,” Wagner said.
The IPEDS research, however, doesn’t tell the same kind of success story for Miami’s regional campuses in Middletown and Hamilton, which have graduation rates of 20.1 and 22.4 respectively within six years for a four-year program, because the information doesn’t adequately measure the nature of those students.
The data “does not include part-time students, associate degree students, or students who start at Miami’s regional campuses intending to complete a program or degree at another college or university,” said regional campus spokesperson Perry Richardson. “This does not account for many segments of our student population, and therefore grossly distorts the cost-per-completion statistics.”
Many regional campus students attend school part-time during an extended period of time, or even take a break for a year or more in pursuit of their ultimate educational goals, Richardson said.
“The most recent Ohio Board of Regents data indicates that in 2008 Miami Hamilton retained 68 percent and Miami Middletown retained 66 percent of first-time, full-time students from their first to second years,” he said.
About the Author