Ohio University’s Southern and Chillicothe campuses were recently deemed among national public universities two of the worst campuses for graduation rates, but university officials claim it’s not an accurate analysis.
OU’s southern campus, located in Ironton was ranked sixth worst while Chillicothe was 10th worst in a Fiscal Times report. Based on information complied and analyzed by the Fiscal Times, in 2010, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported OU’s southern campus had a graduation rate of 13.7 percent; OU Chillicothe graduated 15.6 percent of its students.
But the ranking doesn’t consider students who earn associate’s degrees as graduated, said William Willan, executive dean of regional campuses.
“(The ranking) is based on an assumption that entering students come to campuses solely for bachelor’s degrees, and anyone who leaves without a bachelor’s degree represents a failure on the part of the institution,” Willan said.
In 2010-2011, Southern and Chillicothe granted 160 and 194 associate’s degrees respectively. When combined, the two branches give out more than half of OU’s associate degrees, according to the Office of Institutional Research.
“Those students could be graduating from (the associate’s degree nursing program), becoming a (registered nurse) and entering the work force, but according to the survey, they’re considered four-year degree dropouts,” said Martin Tuck, OU-Chillicothe dean.
Tuck said that because Chillicothe and Southern function as both a residential and a community college, the survey also fails to take into account the amount of nontraditional students attending both campuses.
“They have jobs, they have families and they have responsibilities that many of the students at the Athens campus don’t have,” Tuck said.
The survey’s results won’t impact state funding because Ohio performs its own analysis of graduation and retention rates — which have traditionally been favorable to the campuses — separate from the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Willan acknowledged OU’s need to improve graduation rates at all of the regional campuses.
“While we know that we need to work on (raising graduation rates), we also feel that given the nature of a regional campus, we are doing well,” he said.
Other Ohio schools that made it on the list were two of Kent State’s branches.
A representative from The Fiscal Times was unable to be reached by press time.
Worst graduation rates:
1. Southern Univ. at New Orleans, LA
2. Univ. of the District of Columbia, Washington D.C
3. Kent State University-East Liverpool, E. Liverpool, OH
4. Rogers State Univ., Claremore, OK
5. Texas Southern Univ., Houston, TX
6. Ohio Univ. Southern Campus, Ironton, OH
7. Kent State Univ.-Tuscarawas, OH
8. Purdue Univ. North Central, IN
9. Cameron Univ., Lawton, OK
10. Ohio Univ. at Chillicothe, OH
-- report by the Fiscal Times
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