About 58 percent of first-time students seeking a bachelor's degree or its equivalent and attending a 4-year institution full time in 2000-01 completed a bachelor's degree or its equivalent at that institution within 6 years.

Approximately 58 percent of first-time students seeking a bachelor's degree or its equivalent and attending a 4-year institution full time in 2000-01 completed a bachelor's degree or its equivalent at that institution within 6 years (see table A-22-1). This graduation rate was calculated as the total number of completers within the specified time to degree attainment divided by the cohort of students who first enrolled in the 2000-01 academic year. This indicator focuses on the cohort of first-time, full-time students seeking a bachelor's degree or its equivalent who began attending a 4-year institution in 2000 and who completed a bachelor's degree or its equivalent 4, 5, and 6 years later.

The bachelor's degree completion rates of students seeking a bachelor's degree at 4-year institutions varied by the type of institution. For example, graduation rates were higher at private not-for-profit institutions than at public or private for-profit institutions. The 6-year graduation rate for private not-for-profit institutions was 65 percent, compared with 55 percent for public institutions and 33 percent for private for-profit institutions. The gap in the rates between private not-for-profit and public institutions was larger for 4-year and 5-year graduation rates than for the 6-year graduation rate (see table A-22-2). For example, the 4-year graduation rate at private not-for-profit institutions was 50 percent, compared with 29 percent at public institutions.

The bachelor's degree completion rates of students seeking a bachelor's degree at 4-year institutions also varied by student characteristics, including race/ethnicity and sex. Of all students seeking a bachelor's degree or its equivalent and attending a 4-year institution in 2000-01, Asian/Pacific Islander students had the highest 6-year graduation rate, followed by White, Hispanic, Black, and American Indian/Alaska Native students (see table A-22-1). Approximately 67 percent of Asians/Pacific Islanders, compared with 60 percent of Whites, 49 percent of Hispanics, 42 percent of Blacks, and 40 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives graduated with a bachelor's degree or its equivalent within 6 years. This pattern held for Asians/Pacific Islanders, Whites, and Hispanics at institutions of each type of institutional control (public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit). For each institution type, Blacks and American Indians/Alaska Natives had the lowest graduation rates of the five racial/ethnic groups.

In both public and private not-for-profit 4-year institutions, the 6-year graduation rates for females were higher than the rates for males. For public institutions, approximately 58 percent of females seeking a bachelor's degree or its equivalent graduated within 6 years, compared with 51 percent of their male counterparts; for private not-for-profit institutions, 67 percent of females graduated within 6 years, compared with 62 percent of males. At private for-profit institutions, however, the 6-year graduation rate was higher for males than females (36 vs. 29 percent).

Technical Notes

The graduation rate was calculated in the manner required for disclosure and reporting purposes under the Student Right-To-Know Act as the total number of completers within the specified time to degree attainment divided by the revised cohort minus any allowable exclusions. For this indicator, the revised cohort is the spring 2007 estimate of the number of students entering the institution in 2000 as first-time, full-time undergraduates seeking a bachelor's or equivalent degree. Allowable exclusions include those students who had died or were totally and permanently disabled; those who had left school to serve in the armed forces; those who had left to serve with a foreign aid service of the federal government such as the Peace Corps; and those who had left to serve on official church missions. For 4-year institutions, the cohort in this indicator consists of those students who enrolled for the first time in the 2000-01 academic year. The number of completers used in the calculation of the graduation rate for each time-to-degree designation is cumulative; for example, the 6-year graduation rate includes all students who graduated in 4 years and 5 years, as well as those who graduated in 6 years. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For more information on race/ethnicity, see supplemental note 1. For more information on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), see supplemental note 3.