Texas Ed Spectator

Possible 5-year limit to get UT bachelor’s degree | AP Texas News | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle

A task force on Tuesday recommended requiring students at the University of Texas to complete their bachelor’s degrees in 10 semesters or five years

So do you think that means that the university will start reporting it’s four year (not six year) graduation rate which is 48%? Oh wait, that’s the student’s fault as well, you know, all those top 10 percent graduates who are just enjoying paying for college so much that they won’t graduate and mess up the school’s stats.

At Princeton University, Grumbling About Grade Deflation – NYTimes.com

“There are tons of really great schools with really smart kids applying for the same jobs,” said Jacob Loewenstein, a junior from Lawrence, N.Y., who is majoring in German. “People intuitively take a G.P.A. to be a representation of your academic ability and act accordingly. The assumption that a recruiter who is screening applications is going to treat a Princeton student differently based on a letter is naïve.”

So why did you apply to Princeton as opposed to some lesser known state school with a reputation for easy A’s? How pathetic! Get real, you applied because of the name. If you applied because of the rigor of the program, you wouldn’t be whining now. Is this the result of the Princeton education? Maybe Princeton should reconsider their admission procedures if this is how their students react in the face of “adversity.”  

Another ranking system.

the College Grid

After helping numerous students with their college applications, we noticed a lack of useful tools to help manage the school selection process. We decided to build a website with a “top-down” approach to researching colleges. Within a week, the College Grid was born.

It is improvement over the Princeton Review and US News and World Report in that it actually lets you sort on any of the variables. But the choice of variables!

The default sort is on the admissions rate. Obviously the creators are believers in that selectivity means better. But such a system does have its limitations. For example, select just for Texas schools and see what school shows up second with the default rating. And it even has a 99% acceptance yield! What a find! The problem is that is has a six year graduation rate of less than 20%. I’m sure that’s why there’s a column of SAT scores to give a heads-up that you might want to check into the value of the selectivity but still, is this really valuable?

The top five Texas schools in terms of four year graduation rates are ranked 1, 25, 15, 31, and 44 on the College Grid. Which is more important, selectivity or graduation rates? (They are ranked 1, 6, 2, 4, and 9 by SAT scores.)

The problem is that somebody out there doesn’t want your average college student ranking schools by graduate rates. (I’m not saying that graduation rates should be the only consideration but when your shelling out $40,000 a year, I would put it at the top of the list.) Most lists are now listing graduation rates as part of the school profile but the only place where you can actually select on it is at www.Collegeresults.org. Even the College Navigator, the website run by the federal government that actually collects the graduate rate data, doesn’t allow you to search on it.

So do potential students really not care about graduation rates or have they just been convinced that acceptance rates are actually a reflection of graduation rates?

College graduation rates, college rankings

For those interested in colleges with a January term or “J” term, here’s a list based on information reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). I’ll work on getting the table cleaned up and completed as I can.

I recently stumbled across this blog from the Fiske Guide website. He has an interesting link to report by Rice justifying why it needs to increase in size by 30%.

Fiske Guide Blog

But as one undergrad quoted in the report explains, “I feel that we are too small and that increasing by 30 percent at least, if not more, would benefit us in so many ways, socially and academically. Many of my upper-level courses have 10 people or less, which limits me in choosing a study group, project partners, and in class participation.” I hate it when that happens. My bet is that we won’t be seeing this quote in the viewbook any time soon. Alas, the only thing that benefits from smallness is teaching and learning, an item far down on the list of priorities at most institutions.

My initial reaction to the student’s comment was “you’ve got to be kidding.” So that’s why UT Austin required a minimum of ten students in an undergraduate class for it to make.

After thinking about it some more, I realized how the student could have reached that point–but it is still a pathetic comment. I would guess that her lower division classes were between the 15 to 30 range with occasional big hall lectures. So she experienced an “ideal” class size that most have to wait until graduate school.

But what does that say about her ability to imagine what those “ideal” size classes will be like once they start expanding the number of students? What does it say about an institution and it’s graduates that believes the students would benefit more from a stronger “national” reputation than smaller classes?

Maybe the Rice graduates who feel like they are at a disadvantage when applying for jobs because no one knows what Rice is should consider applying to other less shallow sounding jobs. But given the comments in the report, it sounds like those are exactly the type of people Rice has been and will be recruiting.

Well, at the least students won’t have to make sure they’re prepared for their classes and will be able to select from a wide range of potential project partners after they have figured out their names.

Rice, reputation, rankings, colleges, class size

In general, I don’t think “starting off” at a community college to get a four year degree is a good idea for most people. This isn’t necessarily a criticism of the education quality at community colleges but rather a recognition that unless a student is especially focused and motivated, his or her chances for graduation are slim. However, a recent story in the Express-News reminded me that for many, the community college may be the only viable option.

Nonetheless, San Antonio College only has a 11.7% graduation rate for a four year degree in six years. If you find yourself at SAC for financial reasons (and the tuition is significantly lower than that of four year institutions) take advantage of the Presidential Honors Program.

Presidential Honors Program

A limited number of students are selected for this program every fall and spring semester. High school applicants are evaluated on the basis of high school GPA and class rank, SAT and/or ACT test scores, teacher recommendations and weight of academic load (number of math, science, social science, and humanities courses). Selected students are given a full scholarship (tuition and books). Those entering the program then take a mix of honors courses, contract courses, and regular courses to fulfill the requirements of the Honors program and of the students’ major. Graduates of the program can enter degree programs at universities in any field. The Honors program also helps place its students in universities and often can help students gain scholarship continuations into the Junior and Senior year.

Such a program is one way to get the attention and support you need to make it to the four year college. Some community colleges actually have agreements with other colleges where students in their honors programs can directly transfer into the four year university’s program. And given the graduation rate at some four year colleges, the honors programs is another way to prevent falling through the cracks.

The University of Texas at San Antonio’s six year graduation rate is only 30.2% compared to 75.1% for the University of Texas at Austin. Surely, however, the students in UTSA’s honors programs must have a higher graduation rate? Furthermore, the eligibility requirements for UTSA’s Honros College aren’t exactly daunting: graduation in the top 20%, ACT of 24, SAT (M+V) 1100.

I suppose this comes across as a back-handed compliment to the programs. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that you can get a great education at either of these schools. But you would certainly be maximizing your resources if you pursued the honors options available at less selective schools.

Unfortunately, these programs can be hard to find. The honors program link shows up after the second click on the UT Austin website. It takes four clicks on the UTSA page and that’s only if you know to click on “Student Information Bulletin” and then “Admission to Colleges and Special Programs.” As for the program at SAC, so far I’ve only found it by doing a search on the website. I don’t know what links into it. Maybe it’s the administration’s way of keeping down enrollment.

In any case, for all those students who aren’t likely to get into UT Austin because of the top ten percent rule, there are probably some excellent honor programs which would serve them just as well.

Randolph-Macon College is a small liberal arts of less than 1,200 students just north of Richmond, Virginia. The college has two programs that I find appealing. It has a First-Year Experience that goes beyond freshman seminars. Undergraduate research appears to be prominent with it’s Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship. And for those who ranking is important, its ranking in US News and World Report suggests that it may be an under-rated or undiscovered education value. It’s ranked 122 over all in its Liberal Arts Colleges list but is 176th in selectivity.

• Four Year Graduation Rate: 52.2%
• Median SAT: 1095
• $18,433 expenditures per student
• 78.4% Admitted
• 86% Students living on campus

Over a third of the students participate in nationally based sororities and fraternities. The importance of Greek life comes across in the Princeton Review’s student comments. And while the campus hasn’t reported any liquor or drug violations, drinking appears to be a major recreational focus. Randolph-Macon makes the Princeton Review’s top twenty lists in “Lots of Beer Parties,” “Major Frat and Sorority Scene Parties,” and “Party Schools Parties.” This where it would be nice to know more about how other schools ranked on these lists other than the top twenty. For all we know, it may be little different than number 50 or dramatically different than number 21. Having attended a school that regularly made the party school rankings, I know that it’s possible for such a label to have very little effect on your individual experience. However, given it’s small size, it’s something I would want to check out very carefully.

While student’s comments don’t say anything specifically about the academic rigor of the classes, the college states that “since 1920, when statistics were first kept, a higher percentage of Randolph-Macon graduates have gone on to earn PhDs than that of any independent college in the state of Virginia.” I suspect this is a school worth looking into if you are interested in a liberal arts education but don’t have the scores to get into one of the more selective schools. I would just be wary of it’s drinking reputation.

R-MC :: What is the First-Year Experience?

As a new student, you’ll explore these kinds of connections through your First-Year Experience (FYE). You’ll join a small group of other students and two professors from different disciplines for a yearlong exploration of a topic in a challenging and interesting set of FYE classes. Outside the classroom, you’ll attend co-curricular events such as plays and public lectures designed to deepen your understanding of the topic. The work will culminate in an interdisciplinary analysis that might take the form of a written report, a video production, or a work of art. And through FYE you’ll make solid connections with those who share your exploration, including the faculty members, one of whom will serve as your academic advisor.

FYE Topics

The Drug Trade
Disciplines: Chemistry and Sociology

What is Life?
Disciplines: Biology and Computer Science

Biopolitics
Disciplines: Biology, Political Science

Wine, Science, and Society
Disciplines: Literature, Chemistry

In God’s Good Time
Disciplines: Religious Studies, Physics

Why R-MC: Undergraduate Research?

Randolph-Macon College views students as colleagues through their summer research opportunities that take them out of the classroom for a total summer immersion program.

Like professional scientists and scholars, Randolph-Macon students have to apply to the SURF program by writing a proposal and request for grant money to fund their research. If their project is accepted, they receive a stipend of $3,000 and free housing. In addition, funds are available for supplies and travel.

Technorati Tags: Randolph-Macon College, College Rankings, College Search, Liberal Arts Colleges