Graduation rates rise

LITTLE ROCK -- The number of degree seekers at Arkansas' public universities remains steady, but those students are graduating more quickly than in the past.

Statewide, the average percentage of students graduating in four years has risen from 21.5 percent of 14,305 first-time students entering a public university in fall 2007 to 25.7 percent of the 16,032 students entering in fall 2011, according to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.

The statewide average of students graduating in six years has also risen from 35 percent of the 13,847 first-time students entering a public university in fall 2005 to 40 percent of the 15,193 students entering in fall 2009, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Sunday.

The 10-year graduation rate has hovered around 40 percent for the past five years, according to the department.

The report is telling for policymakers who gauge the state's economic health, officials have said, because having more graduates bolsters the education level of the workforce and helps attract industry.

"There's really not much change if you look at the 10-year graduation rate over time, so we're getting about the same number of people to a degree," Higher Education Department Director Brett Powell said. "But since the six-year rate is increasing, it's actually happening faster."

The state has consistently fallen below the national average, which was 57 percent last year for first-time, full-time students who began seeking bachelor's degrees at four-year public institutions in fall 2008 and earned degrees six years later, according to the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences.

Arkansas' graduation rate is the fifth-lowest in the nation, according to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.

It's encouraging that we've made progress in terms of the four- and six-year graduation rates," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. "It's good to have the trend moving in the right direction, but it also means you've got still over half of students who enter college (and) don't finish."

State Desk on 05/25/2015

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