📊 The Data Din
What is Furman's four-year graduation rate?
Welcome to the Data Din. A sharp, visual snapshot of key data about the university—from admissions trends to faculty composition.
This week, we bring you data on Furman’s four-year graduation rates.
With fall orientation kicking off one month from today and students getting ready to start their freshmen year, these figures are more relevant than ever. That’s because they tell us how many of these new Paladins will likely graduate within four years, which Furman says is “the goal for most undergraduates.”
The data, which are the most up to date available on Furman’s own website, might surprise you. Overall, they suggest that Furman has a slightly lower four-year graduation rate than peer institutions. They also indicate that race plays a factor, with black and Hispanic four-year graduation rates at Furman being significantly lower most years.
Here’s the data:
And here are several comparisons to our peer institutions:
It should be noted that results for 2020 and later have some covid-induced effects, which won’t be fully expunged until 2027. It should also be noted that six-year graduations, rather than four-year rates, are often used by colleges and universities. Nevertheless, these data are interesting and prompt several questions:
Why are graduation rates lower for black and Hispanic students at Furman?
Why are we lagging behind our peers in almost every category?
Why have white graduation rates improved since Covid-19 while others have gotten worse? Do we expect that trend to change?
What is the importance of a graduation rate?
What can we do to improve graduation rates for all students at Furman?
At FFSA, we hope this graph and these questions prompt debate among Furman’s administration and faculty, as well as among you — our readers! Please let us know what you think and leave a comment.
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Perhaps this indicates that there is still work to be done to create a more inclusive community at Furman, a PWI—hopefully, the steps taken by the administration to build community supports in the form of alliance councils, peer inclusivity, and faculty support are steps in the right direction.
COULD IT BE THAT ADMISSION/GRADUATTIONSTATISTICS ACTUALLY REFLECT FURMAN'S POLICY OF TRYING SO HARD TO ENROLL BLACK AND BROWN STUDENTS. THAT SUCH YOUND PEOPLE. ARE NOT ABLE TO DO THE WORK IT TAKES TO SUCCEED AT FURMAN?