Has anyone else noticed a decline in online manners, respect and clarity in email correspondence from students of the eGeneration? Here is a sample: The sample student email to the instructor was addressed on a first name basis (and not to Dr. or Prof.) and it was not even signed with a name. Sadly, this appears to be an etrend of the eGeneration.
Goodness me. I get those all the time. I have had students refer me as: 1. Hey Teach (yes, I am not joking) 2. Yo Man 3. Ma'am ( when on my syllabus and the course intro, it clearly states, Mr.) 4. What's Up
Two or three decades ago, an unbelievable study came stating that only 1 in 4 entering freshman graduated with a Bachelors degree in four years (at 4-year institutions). Today, is it significantly different?
The latest statistics in the US Dept of Education "Digest of Education Statistics" are for students who started college in 2005: - 38.6 % graduated within 4 years - 54.3 % graduated within 5 years - 58.3 % graduated within 6 years The rate has been lower in the past. For example, the 4-year graduation rate for students who started in 1996 was only 33.7 % (about one in three). No earlier data are shown.
As you might expect, graduation rates vary widely, depending on sex, ethnicity, and school type (i.e. public vs. private non-profit vs. for-profit). However, the single factor that is associated with the largest differences in graduation rate is: none of these. The most dramatic differences in graduation rate actually appear to be related to school selectivity. The six-year graduation rate for students starting in 2005 is shown below for schools with different levels of admissions selectivity: 31.4 % - Open admissions 45.3 % - Accepts 90 percent + 56.4 % - Accepts 75.0 to 89.9 percent 60.9 % - Accepts 50.0 to 74.9 percent 70.0 % - Accepts 25.0 to 49.9 percent 88.3 % - Accepts less than 25.0 percent These differences are much greater than the differences relating to sex, ethnicity, or school type.
Good point. It demonstrates that open admissions does two things. First, it gives many students (who otherwise would not have a chance) an opportunity to go to college -- and many get a degree. Second, it reduces the overall graduation rate. It's opportunity v. graduate rates. At 38%, is Arizona State University open admissions?
According to College Navigator, ASU had an 80% admissions rate in Fall 2013. So not open admissions. Let's assume that the ASU admissions rate was roughly similar in 2005. In that case, ASU would fall into the Digest's "Accepts 75.0 to 89.9 percent" category. The Digest statistics indicate that schools in this category had an average 6-year graduation rate of 56.4 % for students starting in 2005. According to College Navigator, ASU had a 6-year graduation rate of 58% for students starting in 2005. So ASU's 6-year graduation rate seems to be pretty much in line with its selectivity.
I let it go. I have to. I do start the email with: Ms. Jones and end it with Mr. Johnson. I always refer to them by their last names.
As these numbers indicate, most full-time undergraduate students fail to graduate within four years, and that statistic shocks a lot of people. However, many of those students don't fall short by very much -- they just need an extra quarter or two to finish up. In reality, most undergraduate students do graduate within five years, which is less shocking. So the 4-year graduation rate doesn't tell the whole story. In practice, the 6-year graduation rate is probably the most common benchmark. Example: Cal State Long Beach is one of the largest universities in California. For students entering in 2005, the 4-year graduation rate was only 12%, which looks absolutely atrocious. But that's not the whole story, because the 6-year graduation rate for students entering in 2005 was 54%.
No, and so the reported graduation rates could be underestimates. As stated by the Dept. of Education: Note that the data are compiled by the schools, and submitted to the Dept. of Education. The schools have no way to track students once they've left. Suppose you transfer from School A to School B, and then graduate from School B. Obviously that does happen -- but School B does not notify School A about it. So School A doesn't know that you ultimately graduated, and will not include you in their graduation rate. Some schools, but not all, do report a "transfer-out" rate.
