finishing college

There's an interesting review of Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America’s Public Universities at the MAA website. Bressoud writes:

The most interesting observation made by these authors [William Bowen, Matthew Chingos, and Michael McPherson] is the importance of the selectivity of the university. It is not surprising that the more selective the university, the better the graduation rate. What is surprising is that this effect is still substantial even when controlling for SAT scores and high school GPA. At the most selective flagship universities, a student with a combined SAT score between 1000 and 1100 and a high school GPA between 3.00 and 3.33 has a 72.5% chance of graduating within six years. As selectivity decreases, so does the probability that this student will graduate within six years. It drops to only 53.5% at the least selective state universities.

The evidence is that more selective universities really do offer a better education. Higher expectations from faculty and peers, better educational resources, and more complete financial aid are certainly among the factors at play. The authors found evidence that overmatching (going to a university where one’s academic record is near the bottom of those accepted) still improves the probability of graduating within six years, and undermatching (choosing a less selective university when fully qualified for a more selective one) seriously decreases the probability of graduating within six years.