The U.S. Department of Education should require colleges to provide their six-year graduation rates in all admissions and financial-aid correspondence so students and families can more easily distinguish among colleges, according to a new report.
The Washington-based American Enterprise Institute surveyed 1,000 parents of high school-age children in five states. The report shows that when choosing between two public, four-year colleges in their states, parents were 15 percent more likely to select the college with a higher graduation rate.
The institute also found that parents with less education, lower incomes, and less knowledge of the college-application process were more likely to choose a college with higher graduation rates than better-informed and more-advantaged parents.
