Quality of Peers and Ease of Transfer Are Key Factors in Graduation Rates

By Chronicle Staff. Report: “A New Measure of College Quality to Study the Effects of College Sector and Peers on Degree Attainment”
Authors: Jonathan Smith, policy research scientist at the College Board, and Kevin Stange, assistant professor of public policy at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Organization: National Bureau of Economic Research
Summary: Recent high-school graduates who start their higher education at community colleges are far less likely to earn bachelor’s degrees within six years than are those who begin at four-year colleges, the researchers found. This paper examines why that is. More...