As stays in college get longer, costs grow

Only one in three college students in America gets a bachelor's degree in four years. In fact, the federal government uses a six-year rate to measure graduation success, but still only 56 percent ever graduate from the college they entered as freshmen.

"We need to ask ourselves: Why has six years become the norm?" said Danette Gerald of the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C. think tank. "We have a good deal of success in getting students into college, but not in getting them out."

Overall, New Jersey's state colleges have rates that are closely aligned with how selective they are in the first place. The College of New Jersey in Ewing Township, the most selective, has a four-year graduation rate of 66.2 percent, while New Jersey City University, one of the least selective, has a four-year rate of just 7 percent.

The state's private schools also have rates that closely reflect how selective they are. Princeton University, one of the most selective in the country, tops the list in New Jersey with a four-year graduation rate of 89 percent and a six-year rate of 96.4 percent. Bloomfield College has the lowest four-year rate of 5.5 percent and a six-year rate of 33.5 percent.

All of the information in this post has been taken directly from an article in NorthJersey.com dated 27 May 2007. The entire article is available here. The article includes some tips on graduating in four years.