Apparently it's not easy to get a degree

[Hammer]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/11/16/colleges.graduating.ap/index.html

Seems like an odd topic to study. If everyone that entered college graduated, wouldn't it imply it's too easy?

[Post]

They're not trying to find out why so many don't graduate; they're trying to find out why it's so different for different races and different schools (even though the schools and the race comparisons are approximately equal).

The two examples they give is basically, school A and school B have students with similar price tags, notoriety, and SAT scores for the students. What's different about the schools that give them radically different graduation rates?

Also, if you're of race A, then you have less of a chance of graduating than race B, even if your SAT scores, family income, etc are basically the same. Why?

They're not looking so much as to why you have an overall low chance of graduating once you're in college.

[Hammer]

Now the question of what to do about the country's unimpressive and stagnant graduation rates is on the agenda, from college presidents' offices to state houses. The latest sign of the trend comes Wednesday, when former Princeton President William Bowen lays out an ambitious research agenda on the question during a speech in New York.

Seems like they want to find out why rates remain low to me. Yes, the other things are going to be looked at as well, but the above quote seems to indicate a general interest in college gratuation rates.

[Post]

That's true; perhaps I should say that their main focus is an overall "why is it hard?" study. Furthermore, it could be useful if, say, the percentage graduating was getting lower. Yeah, it's tough, but I'm not sure if I agree that it should be any tougher than 10 years ago.

[Noleader]

Maybe if they lowered the cost of college a bit it would not be so hard to complete it. Most folks don't have parents that can pay their way through school, so they take a job to pay for it. Some of those find that they like doing the job and just stop going to school... others can not seem to find time to study or even sleep and end up giving up.

[Hammer]

A lot of the people I know who tried and didn't make it tended to have no idea what they wanted to do. I think was very lucky in that I discovered what it was I wanted to do and what job(s) I would be able to get with my degree. It made it easier to focus. Even then, the new found freedom of college almost sunk me. I wonder how many freshman have declared a major and really know that it's the right career choice for them?