One aspect of examining graduation rates in large universities versus small campuses involves defining the model for quantifying graduation rates. For example, a standardized quantification model involves using a percentage of those who enter the college or university as freshman completing the program and graduating four years later. As indicated at the Inside Higher Ed website, this model contains built-in flaws because of inherent bias towards a coursework regimen that follows the traditional, small college program. It does not accurately reflect more recent realities of college or university attendance that apply as of 2011; it does not factor in such aspects as student transfers to or from the institution that affect graduation rates.
Students who take courseloads at the level government specifies as qualifying them for financial aid yet which provide insufficient course credits to complete the program in four years provides one example of a factor that can affect graduation rates when quantified using the four-year model. Another factor can involve a high percentage of students in programs requiring five or more years to complete, such as engineering and some programs related to the healthcare field. Still another involves colleges which by nature serve higher risk student populations.
Six categories of colleges exist based on enrollment requirements: noncompetitive, less competitive, competitive, very competitive, highly competitive and most competitive. Within each category, a mix of universities and colleges represent both the highest and the lowest graduation rates, according to a American Enterprise Institution for Public Policy Research study. In some instances, the highs and lows contain surprises in relation to the findings of the Inside Higher Ed website. For example, Kansas State University is in the top ten in the "noncompetive" class in terms of graduation rates, whereas the data in the Inside Higher Ed website indicates that, overall, state schools with lower tuition rates have lower graduation rates than private schools with higher tuition rates. Similarly, such private institutions as Reed College, Tulane University, Scripps College, Sierra Nevada College, Concordia University, Kettering University and Stony Brook University reside in the bottom ten by graduation rate in their respective categories. Awareness of which institutions have the lowest ten graduation percentage rates nationwide, in various categories, can give you a general sense of whether colleges or universities do better with their graduation rates at least in that particular class of academic institution.
In the "very competitive" category, a slight trend towards higher graduation rates for universities emerges, with eight universities represented in a category for which similar rates led to the inclusion of 13 institutions in top-ranked schools. The "most competitive" category exhibits this same trend, with eight universities represented in a top-ranked listing that names 12 institutions. This trend, however, is not reflected in the "highly competitive" category, in which 11 colleges appear in the list of the 13 institutions top-ranked by graduation rate. At least two colleges identified here, Smith College and Mount Holyoke, both located in Massachusetts, have Ivy League affiliation; here, again, if the college or university you are considering falls into a "most competitive" or "highly competitive" category, and you have a concern about graduation rates, the general layout in each of these categories can give you an idea of whether colleges or universities tend to fare better in the relevant category as to graduation rates.