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National Center for Education Statistics

NOTE: Title IV institutions are those with a written agreement with the U.S. Department of Education that allows the institution to participate in any of the Title IV federal student financial assistance programs. United States includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The four U.S. service academies that are not Title IV eligible are included in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) universe because they are federally funded and open to the public and are included in this table. The rates in this table reflect only students seeking bachelor’s or equivalent degrees, rather than all students at 4-year institutions. The graduation rate was calculated as required for disclosure and reporting purposes under the Student Right-to-Know Act. This rate was calculated as the total number of completers within the specified time to degree divided by the adjusted cohort (revised cohort minus any allowable exclusions). The revised cohort is the number of students entering the institution as full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates in the cohort year. Allowable exclusions include those students who died or were totally and permanently disabled; students who left school to serve in the armed forces (or have been called up to active duty); those who left to serve with a foreign aid service of the federal government, such as the Peace Corps; and those who left to serve on official church missions. Definitions for terms used in this table may be found in the collection year’s archived downloadable glossary located at https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data/annual-survey-forms-packages-archived?year=2020.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS, Winter 2020–21, Graduation Rates component (final data).