By Reid Kamhi
Staff Reporter
Nov. 30, 2022
Only 46% of Edgewood undergraduate students who began in 2016 graduated from the College in four years, a figure which has raised concern from administrators and students alike.
The statistic comes from Edgewood’s Quick Facts document from the 2020-21 academic year, a file which also includes demographic information about the student body.
This precedes a report last spring by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which shows a 10% decline in enrollment at private universities in Wisconsin. The statistic also comes amid the closures – some planned and some completed already – of eighty institutions of higher education throughout the United States since 2016, according to a report by Higher Ed Dive. It has prompted concern from some members of Edgewood’s administration, including William Mangan, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs.
“The decline in enrollments at private colleges and universities in Wisconsin is a matter of serious concern for the Board of Trustees, President Andrew Manion, and the faculty and staff of Edgewood College,” said Mangan. “Edgewood College needs to make sure that our academic programs are in demand and high quality, that our academic and student services are appropriate for student needs, and that our tuition remains affordable.”
Paul Eggers, the Vice President for Enrollment Management, cited a partnership with Madison Area Technical College and its effect on the graduation rate.
“We have seen a recent uptick in our transfer enrollment recently due in large part to an expanded partnership with Madison Area Technical College,” Eggers said. “This partnership does a great job of providing students who start at MATC with a pathway to a bachelor’s degree in four years but it also impacts this statistic.”
Eggers explained that the statistic may be misleading, as it does not count students who transferred out of Edgewood but graduated elsewhere. Nonetheless, he – unlike Mangan – is confident that Edgewood can overcome this trend.
“I would say that it is important for us to be aware of the statistics and where we rank relative to our peers and also develop strategic responses to any of these statistics that we feel are liabilities,” said the Vice President for Enrollment Management. “As long as we continue to live our mission, despite all of the challenges that small private institutions face today, I am confident that we will continue to thrive.”
Students have expressed unpleasant surprise by the four-year graduation rate. That includes Annabelle Vesperman, a sophomore nursing student.
“That sounds horrible,” Vesperman remarked. “I feel like that’s not a very good graduation percentage… if it’s less than half in four years.”
Similarly, Kyra Lynch, a first-year, first-generation college student studying art therapy, also showed concern over the four-year graduation rate.
“I think it would have been very discouraging hearing that,” Lynch said in reference to deciding what school to attend. She chose Edgewood over the other schools to which she was accepted, out of preference for a co-ed environment.
A statistic which Edgewood can take some heart in, though, is their six-year graduation rate expressed in the same Quick Facts Document. That figure is 65%. In CollegeTuitionCompare.com’s ranking by six-year graduation rates of 29 private, four-year institutions in Wisconsin, Edgewood’s percentage places them 11th. William Mangan points to key areas of students’ educational experiences as the reason Edgewood sits in the top half of this table.
“Our academic programs are well designed to facilitate degree completion in clear and timely ways,” Mangan said. “We help students develop career plans and graduate school pathways that define exciting and achievable goals for life after college.”
Paul Eggers credits the faculty and staff for this feat.
“A lot of the credit for this goes to our people. Edgewood College is blessed to have people in a variety of student service roles who are passionate about student success and student outcomes,” Eggers said.
“We intentionally strive to make sure students feel connected to each other and to the campus which ultimately helps with retention and persistence.”
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