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March 2007
Did you know...that the majority of female students graduated in four years for the first time? Four-year graduation rates for women continue to eclipse males as 52% of the Fall 2002 cohort of female students graduated in four years or less. Having the majority of female students graduate in four years is a milestone in a decade-long increase in four-year graduation rates at NC State. The Fall 2002 cohort includes all first-time freshmen that entered NC State in Fall 2002 and, if they graduate in four years, have graduated by Spring 2006. The four-year graduation rate for all students – male and female – has risen steadily with year-to-year increases being commonplace.
One factor to consider when analyzing a student’s four-year graduation rate is their program of study. Certain programs – some Engineering disciplines, for example – take more than four years even if the student is successful and following their course of study. To account for this, the IPEDS standard for measuring graduation rates is six years though NC State voluntarily tracks four-year graduation rates.
However, as Table 1 shows, the four-year graduation rate for females is rapidly increasing in all colleges and that Engineering has one of the largest increases. The increase in four-year graduation rates is a campus-wide phenomenon, not the result of a single college.
The distribution in college of entry for women has changed little between 1995 and 2002 (1995 is the first year of First Year College). Between 1995 and 2002, the greatest change is an influx of admissions to First Year College and CHASS. More females also enrolled in Engineering and CALS even though their shares have decreased.
Leading the way in growing four-year graduation rates is the College of Natural Resources. Not surprisingly, though, is that some of the most significant increases in four-year graduation rates also occurred in the colleges most popular with female students.
Another factor could be an increasingly well-qualified student at NC State. Almost every incoming cohort of females has better academic qualifications than the one before.
Table 3 shows that female students do have annual increases in both SAT scores and high school GPA, suggesting the quality of NC State improves each year. While relevant to increasing four-year graduation rates, the incoming student qualifications do not explain the entire increase.
While the exact cause of the increase in four-year graduation cannot be precisely calculated, some of the causes are likely adaptive university policies that encourage faster graduation, a cap in credit hour requirements for degrees, better advising, fewer major changes, and, of course, efforts by NC State students.