Degree Attainment Analysis

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Degree Attainment
As previously mentioned, it has been established that there are many who are interested in degree completion (Pacarella & Terenzini, 2005; Anderson & Kim, 2006; Baum & Ma, 2007; Chen & Weko, 2009; Dowd, Malcom, & Bensimon, 2009) and the impact of college and the retention of students is enigmatic and requires further study (Astin, 1970a, 1970b, 1993; Tinto, 1975, 1987, 1993; Pascarella, 1985; Weidman, 1989; Braxton, 2000; Seidman, 2005). We know that access to and success in college as well as transferring from one institution to another are the product of a complex set of factors, some of which can be traced back to the eighth grade, while others pertain to the institutional environment (Belcher, Michael, & Hagedorn, 2002; …show more content…
There are several data sources to calculate graduation rates from. However, only a handful of data sources can be used to calculate graduation rates at the national level. Each database is slightly different in terms of who is included in the cohort to calculate graduation rates. Therefore, depending on which data set is used, it is likely to produce different graduation rates. Because of the different methodologies, each database has advantages and disadvantages in calculating national graduation rates. Moreover, not all databases are able to generate institutional-level graduation rates. The databases the produce institutional level data include the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), and State Data Systems. The databases that do not produce institutional level data include: Beginning Post Secondary Student (BPS) Study, and National School-to-College Longitudinal Studies (i.e. National Longitudinal Survey (NLS), High School and Beyond (HS&B), National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) and High School Longitudinal Study …show more content…
Comparing graduation rates is more complex than initially thought. The graduation rate breaks down when comparing graduation rates of different institutions. The comparison infers that the difference in graduation rates is attributed to characteristics of the institutions and does not account for the differences of the students and the mission of the institution. Howard and Rodgers (1991) articulated the issue as

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