College Graduation Rates – Michigan

Colleges aim to boost low grad rates; many students unprepared, By Lori Higgins, October 24, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Colleges today face a dilemma: They can get students in the door. But keeping them enrolled, and getting them to graduate, is a tough task. In Michigan, just a little more than half the students who enter college as first-time students graduate within six years. At individual universities, the rates are even lower: 32% for Wayne State University, 38% at Saginaw Valley State University, 40% at Eastern Michigan University. The rates are worse for minorities. The reasons: too many academically unprepared students, financial struggles forcing students to drop out, part-time students who take longer to graduate. Officials are working to turn around the numbers with tutoring, mentoring and academic counseling…”
Report: ‘Horrendous’ black-white gap at Wayne State, By Lori Higgins, October 24, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Graduation rates overall show a need for improvement, but they’re particularly dismal for some minority groups. In Michigan, about 59% of students who enrolled in 2002 graduated within six years, but the rate is only about 36% for African-American students. In contrast, white students have a graduation rate of about 61%. Similar gaps can be seen between white and Hispanic groups at some universities, though the overall rate for Hispanic students, 56%, is more comparable to that of white students…”