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West Virginia has among the lowest college graduation rates in the nation.
West Virginia needs to at least reach the national average of 51 percent of adults having two or four-year college degrees.
With current graduation rates, the state will be nearly 45,000 degrees short of that goal by 2018, the Legislative Oversight Committee on Education Accountability was told this week.
A Higher Education Policy Commission study just released showed that state institutions need to do a better job of retaining and graduating enrollees.
A number of state colleges have dismal graduation rates, from about 15 percent at Bluefield State College to 59 percent at West Virginia University.
The new study found that since 1995, nearly 127,000 West Virginians had attended, but not earned degrees from state higher education institutions.
WVU's 2010 graduation rate was 59.6 percent, up 0.5 percent from 2009, but below its goal of a 63 percent graduation rate.
Marshall had a 48.4 percent graduation rate, up 1.7 percent from 2009, and above its goal of a 45 percent graduation rate.
STATE HIGH SCHOOLS GRAD RATES WORSE THAN REPORTED
One of every four West Virginia high school students doesn't graduate within four years, if ever, according to a study released this year by the Legislative Auditor's Office.
The audit also found a connection between large high schools and lower graduation rates, with smaller community schools doing much better.
In a review of the state Department of Education, auditors recalculated the state graduation rate for 2007-2008 using a new federal standard and found the state school system is doing worse than previously reported at producing high school graduates.
The education department had reported the graduation rate as about 85 percent. Under the new calculations by the auditors, it was likely about 75 percent.
Kanawha County has the lowest graduation rate in West Virginia, with 68 percent of county students graduating in four years.
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