
DATE: Friday, June 13, 1997                 TAG: 9706120627

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Education: A Special Weekly Report 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  130 lines

GRADUATION REPORT: NORFOLK STATE, OLD DOMINION, CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT

Norfolk State and Christopher Newport universities have the lowest graduation rates among Virginia's state-supported four-year schools, according to recent state statistics.

The numbers track the percentage of first-time freshmen who graduate within six years.

Norfolk State's rate, for the 1990-96 period, was 20 percent - up slightly from 18.4 percent in 1987-93. Next lowest was Christopher Newport at 31.2 percent, down from 33.2 percent.

The schools with the top rates remain the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary, at 91.3 percent and 88.0 percent, respectively. Old Dominion University ranked in the bottom half of schools, at 41.0 percent.

The numbers show ``that there's a lot of improvement that needs to go on in a number of institutions,'' said Gordon K. Davies, director of the State Council of Higher Education, who will leave his post at the end of this month. ``Institutions are providing access to entry. The real question is: Are they providing access to success? I think we've obviously got a long way to go.''

Colleges, both in Virginia and across the nation, are facing increasing scrutiny over their graduation rates.

There's a double impetus: The push for accountability in education is forcing colleges to better assess how well they're teaching students. And the squeeze on finances is prompting questions about whether spending state money on students who never graduate is a waste.

But just what the rates mean - and how much colleges should be judged by them - is still under debate. Do they reflect the quality of the education and counseling that colleges provide students - or the backgrounds the students themselves bring? And are less selective schools automatically penalized?

Retired Maj. Gen. Robert E. Wagner, special assistant to NSU's president who oversees programs to boost graduation rates, admits: ``Unequivocally, we do not do well enough, and the public should expect us to do better.'' But he quickly adds that Virginia colleges should not be held to the same yardstick: ``All of our schools are wildly disparate; they've got to be measured differently.''

Officials at NSU, ODU and Christopher Newport say their lower-than-average rates reflect the fact that many students are forced to go to school part time while holding down jobs.

``I don't think those graduation rates are going to change a lot unless we change the student body,'' said Robert Doane, Christopher Newport's provost. Yet the proportion of students going part time to Christopher Newport is 37 percent, Doane said. Even assuming none of them graduates within six years, that means less than half of the full-time students graduates on time.

Local schools also say their rates will naturally be lower than those of U.Va. or W & M because more of the local students are adults - and fewer live in dorms.

Living on campus ``permits students to give their whole attention to school in a way that living off campus does not,'' said Margaret A. Miller, incoming president of the American Association for Higher Education and a former associate director of Virginia's state council. ``. . .It's also hard to keep the attention of adults who have a lot of other things on their mind.''

At NSU, officials have argued that their rate reflects the low incomes of many students, who they say are forced sometimes to drop out for years to get jobs to pay for more classes.

They say the rate is also depressed by their open admission policy, which supports the school's mission: ``We take youngsters who are woefully unprepared through circumstances that are no fault of their own - social, education, bad counseling - and we give those young persons a second chance,'' Wagner said.

Starting this year, NSU is requiring a C average of applicants - a compromise that administrators say will still fulfill NSU's mission while improving academic performance. Wagner expects that two ``retention'' programs, providing beefed-up counseling and more intensive classes for at-risk students, will also bear fruit. ``I expect that (the rate) to surge in 1998,'' he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, a William and Mary official said both students and staff deserve credit for its strong showing. ``The students that are admitted here are exceptional students right on the very front end,'' said Samuel E. Jones, vice president for budget and planning. ``The other side of it is, we have a very good support structure in place at the college, in terms of academic advising.''

Virginia State University scored the biggest gain since the last time the rate was calculated, jumping 9 points, from 23 percent to 32 percent. W & M had the biggest decline - a 3 point drop, from 91 percent to 88 percent. Jones said the drop may have been a blip due to sizable tuition rises.

Nationally, the latest figures show 57 percent of students at four-year colleges graduate within five years. More than half the Virginia colleges fall below that number. But another analysis puts Virginia ahead of the pack.

Thomas Mortenson, an Iowa researcher, examined six-year rates at selected public and private colleges, using such factors as SAT scores and percentage of students who attend part-time or live on campus. The goal: to determine which states and schools do better, or worse, than they should have.

The result: Virginia ranked 16th highest in the nation, with a rate 1.2 percent better than would have been expected. Of Virginia schools, U.Va. again scored best, with a graduation rate 13 percentage points better than expected.

The state has asked colleges to set targets for graduation rates, beginning with the 1991-97 period. Whether a school meets its target for this measure - and a half-dozen others - might help determine its budget in the future. Details haven't been worked out, said Phyllis Palmiero, deputy director of the state Department of Planning and Budget. One possibility is to create an ``incentive fund'' for bonuses to schools that meet their goals.

Graduation rates, Miller said, are ``something we need to address because all of us want students to succeed. But I think there's no reason to beat up the colleges on this.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

WHO'S GRADUATING

The percentage of first-time freshmen who graduate within six

years at Virginia state-supported colleges and universities. The

rates cover the 1987-93 and 1990-96 periods. Colleges have also

submitted their own targets for the 1991-97 period; the actual rates

for that period have not yet been calculated.

1990-96 1987-93 1991-97

rate rate target

University of Virginia 91.3% 91.5% 91.0%

College of William & Mary 88.0% 91.0% 88.0%

James Madison University 82.0% 80.0% 80.0%

Virginia Tech 72.7% 70.6% 73.1%