What % of people finish?

[natshar]

Im interested in this because I heard that in America only about half of all college freshman will graduate in six  years. That's crazy!

The 6-year graduation rate is 60% overall.  66 percent at private nonprofit institutions , 59 percent at public institutions, and 26 percent at private for-profit institutions.
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40

Still not too great. In all cases avoid for profit schools.

[vetvso]

Many young people don't see the incentive to test out of classes. They are getting Pell Grants, scholarships and student loans and once they complete the BA/BS most of the scholarships are also gone. For a lot of them, the Batchelor's is just an advanced version of high school and they don't really see beyond that. Don't get me wrong some do see what they need to do but my point is they are incentivized to not test out so they can stay at that level as long as possible. On subsidized campus housing, food and a lot of support staff to assist and Cottle them. Major's, minors, certificates and every other extra the school will do it's best to help them stay. With federal funds, the staff enjoy great benefits and can retire.

Once they hit grad school things seem to become much more focused for those that even make it that far.

[sanantone]

Students aren't choosing not to take CLEPs; they don't know what they are. Many kids take AP exams, but they're presented as being for the GT and honors kids. They aren't marketed to the average high school student.

[MNomadic]

When I was in highschool, I had no idea AP courses could get you college credit. I thought they were just harder versions of normal courses, which sounded dumb to me. I didn't learn about CLEPs until I was in the service.

Actually, the first time I went to my local CC to do a CLEP, they were doing college tours for newcomers from highschool and as they passed me I heard him talking about how you can also do CLEPs at the testing center to save lots of time and money by testing out of courses and I saw most of the students rolling their eyes.

[sanantone]

When I was in highschool, I had no idea AP courses could get you college credit. I thought they were just harder versions of normal courses, which sounded dumb to me. I didn't learn about CLEPs until I was in the service.

Actually, the first time I went to my local CC to do a CLEP, they were doing college tours for newcomers from highschool and as they passed me I heard him talking about how you can also do CLEPs at the testing center to save lots of time and money by testing out of courses and I saw most of the students rolling their eyes.

Your high school didn't tell you that AP courses get an extra point? For example, an "A" in an AP course is worth five credits instead of four.

Most of the college graduates I've talked to either never heard of CLEP, or they heard it in passing without knowing what it was. Ironically, on this forum, I'm starting to see a growing aversion to CLEP and other CBEs. That's fine. A lot of people hate high-stakes testing, but I remember people racking up credits faster when they mostly relied on tests.

The CCs I attended never told me about CLEP.

[MNomadic]

When I was in highschool, I had no idea AP courses could get you college credit. I thought they were just harder versions of normal courses, which sounded dumb to me. I didn't learn about CLEPs until I was in the service.

Actually, the first time I went to my local CC to do a CLEP, they were doing college tours for newcomers from highschool and as they passed me I heard him talking about how you can also do CLEPs at the testing center to save lots of time and money by testing out of courses and I saw most of the students rolling their eyes.

Your high school didn't tell you that AP courses get an extra point? For example, an "A" in an AP course is worth five credits instead of four.

Correct. They never told me. I heard second hand from another student halfway through my senior year. I did take a few Dual Enrollment courses but if I'd known about AP, I probably could have finished a year of college before finishing HS.

[sanantone]

When I was in highschool, I had no idea AP courses could get you college credit. I thought they were just harder versions of normal courses, which sounded dumb to me. I didn't learn about CLEPs until I was in the service.

Actually, the first time I went to my local CC to do a CLEP, they were doing college tours for newcomers from highschool and as they passed me I heard him talking about how you can also do CLEPs at the testing center to save lots of time and money by testing out of courses and I saw most of the students rolling their eyes.

Your high school didn't tell you that AP courses get an extra point? For example, an "A" in an AP course is worth five credits instead of four.

Correct. They never told me. I heard second hand from another student halfway through my senior year. I did take a few Dual Enrollment courses but if I'd known about AP, I probably could have finished a year of college before finishing HS.

In my school district, the natural progression was from honors to pre-AP and then to AP courses. Teachers had to recommend you for honors courses, so like I said, AP courses weren't marketed to other students even though anyone could sign up.

[MNomadic]

When I was in highschool, I had no idea AP courses could get you college credit. I thought they were just harder versions of normal courses, which sounded dumb to me. I didn't learn about CLEPs until I was in the service.

Actually, the first time I went to my local CC to do a CLEP, they were doing college tours for newcomers from highschool and as they passed me I heard him talking about how you can also do CLEPs at the testing center to save lots of time and money by testing out of courses and I saw most of the students rolling their eyes.

Your high school didn't tell you that AP courses get an extra point? For example, an "A" in an AP course is worth five credits instead of four.

Correct. They never told me. I heard second hand from another student halfway through my senior year. I did take a few Dual Enrollment courses but if I'd known about AP, I probably could have finished a year of college before finishing HS.

In my school district, the natural progression was from honors to pre-AP and then to AP courses. Teachers had to recommend you for honors courses, so like I said, AP courses weren't marketed to other students even though anyone could sign up.

To be fair, I transferred from a small charter school my first 2 years to a major HS my last 2 years so I probably missed out on a lot of that useful information. I always had good grades and was in the more challenging classes grade school through junior high and my first 2 years of high school. I probably just fell through the cracks during my transfers and they didn't think it was pertinent that I be informed.

[cookderosa]

Obviously, I don't think anyone will know the exact number. 

But I know a lot of people come to this forum saying "I want to do this." But words and actions are two different things. I was wondering if anyone has an estimate of what percentage of people who joined this forum with the intent of earning a degree from the big 3/wgu actually go on to do so.

we do know about 50% of registered college students that enroll at any college don't finish- and if I were guessing, I'd say that's 10x higher than us.

DIY your college experience takes exceptional motivation, and most people are not exceptionally motivated.

[Life Long Learning]

Obviously, I don't think anyone will know the exact number. 

But I know a lot of people come to this forum saying "I want to do this." But words and actions are two different things. I was wondering if anyone has an estimate of what percentage of people who joined this forum with the intent of earning a degree from the big 3/wgu actually go on to do so.

we do know about 50% of registered college students that enroll at any college don't finish- and if I were guessing, I'd say that's 10x higher than us.  

DIY your college experience takes exceptional motivation, and most people are not exceptionally motivated.

I see the degree forum has three types.  

Lurkers - most likely very tiny graduation rate; 

Light Participants - higher than Lurkers, but way less than the national average;

Contributors - folks who take time to research and contribute here. I am an optimist and think this group like us graduate at higher rates than the National 60% average.