Getting that degree

Like most states, Rhode Island is doing poorly at ensuring that college students complete their degrees. Primarily at issue are the nation’s state schools, from which only 32 percent of fulltime students graduate in four years. Private colleges and universities do much better, with about half finishing in the same time span.
Last year, the four-year graduation rate at the University of Rhode Island was 44 percent, nearly the lowest of any state university in New England. As reported by Journal staff writer Lynn Arditi, only the University of Maine fared worse, at 33 percent. The numbers are even bleaker at Rhode Island College, predominantly a commuter school, where the rate fell to a dismal 13 percent last spring. More...