by our College Data Analytics TeamMake an informed decision about your education by understanding how Bluefield State College's retention and graduation rates impact you. First year retention rates let you know how many students come back for their sophomore year. Graduation rates tell you how long it takes to complete a degree at Bluefield State College . Remember, every extra semester it takes to graduate will increase the cost of your degree.
In order to graduate you have to make it past freshman year. With only 63.0% of students staying on to become sophomores, Bluefield State College has freshman retention rates below the national average.
Nationwide, the average first year to second year retention rate is 69.0% . When looking at just colleges and universities in West Virginia , the average is 62.0% .
At Bluefield State College , there were 704 bachelors degree candidates in the class of 2016 . By 2018 , six years after beginning their degree, 35.1% of these students had graduated. After an additional two years, 38.1% of this class eventually completed their degree.
We consider the "on-time" graduation rate for a bachelor's degree to be four years, but colleges typically report their graduation rates after six or even eight years.
This implies that 61.9% did not graduate within eight years. Of these 437 students, 13 were still working towards their degree, 107 had transferred to a different institution, and Bluefield State College lost contact with the remaining 316 whom we assume dropped out.
First-time, full-time students under the age of 25 are much more likely to graduate in four years (on-time). Some schools cater mostly to traditional students while others cater to “non-traditional” students who may be attending part time and thus are likely to take longer to graduate.
Comparing the graduation rates of specific cohorts shown below will be more revealing than the overall statistics shared above.
With a four year graduation rate of 11.0% , first-time students in the Bluefield State College class of 2016 who attended classes full-time were among the least likely in the nation to graduate on time. After six years, the graduation rate was 27.4% and by 2020 ,32.6% of this class had completed their degree.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for first-time undergraduates attending classes full-time is: 35.8% after four years, 46.4% after six years, and 47.8% after eight years.
Studies have shown that high-achieving students are more likely to complete their degree on time. Given the academic preparedness of the first-time / full-time students accepted to Bluefield State College , we expected that after six years about 29.5% of them would have completed their undergraduate degree.
Of these 207 students, 10 were still working towards their degree, 58 had transferred to a different institution, and Bluefield State College lost contact with the remaining 139 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 25.0% , first-time students in the Bluefield State College class of 2016 who attended classes part-time were more likely than average to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 29.2% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for first-time undergraduates attending classes part-time is: 21.6% after six years and 23.7% after eight years.
Of these 17 students, 0 were still working towards their degree, 2 had transferred to a different institution, and Bluefield State College lost contact with the remaining 15 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 43.1% , returning students in the Bluefield State College class of 2016 who attended classes full-time were less likely than average to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 43.9% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for returning undergraduates attending classes full-time is: 53.8% after six years and 55.1% after eight years.
Of these 143 students, 1 were still working towards their degree, 38 had transferred to a different institution, and Bluefield State College lost contact with the remaining 104 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 39.8% , returning students in the Bluefield State College class of 2016 who attended classes part-time were more likely than average to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 41.5% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for returning undergraduates attending classes part-time is: 36.0% after six years and 37.8% after eight years.
Of these 69 students, 2 were still working towards their degree, 9 had transferred to a different institution, and Bluefield State College lost contact with the remaining 58 whom we assume dropped out.
