Georgetown's Graduation Rate Ranks 5th In Nation

With a graduation rate of 90.1 percent in 2009, Georgetown’s is the fifth highest among four-year schools in the United States, according to an Oct. 2 ranking by U.S. News & World Report.

Georgetown placed behind Swarthmore College, Haverford College, Pomona College and the University of Notre Dame, which had four-year rates of 91.3, 91.1, 90.8 and 90.5 percent, respectively.

But Georgetown also placed above peer institutions like Duke University, which had an 89 percent rate, and all of the Ivy League schools.

The rankings reflect the percentage of students who entered undergraduate programs in 2005 and graduated at the same school within four years. Nationally, this statistic is only 40 percent, according to the report.

According to Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charles Deacon, Georgetown’s relatively high graduation rate can be attributed to rigorous admissions standards and a high level of student satisfaction.

“We enroll very talented students, all of whom we expect to graduate, and … students are happy at Georgetown and choose to stay rather than transfer, which is probably the single most important reason why highly competitive admissions colleges do not always have high graduation rates,” Deacon said.

Deacon also credited Georgetown’s financial aid program for enabling students to finish their terms at the university despite the school’s 2012-2013 undergraduate tuition of $42,360, which is among the highest in the country, according to a 2011 Forbes report.

“Georgetown has an excellent record of graduating first-generation, low-income students who are often at risk because of their educational or financial background,” he said. “Programs like the Georgetown Scholarship Program deserve a great deal of credit.”

Deacon added that about half of the students who fail to graduate within four years conclude their studies within five or six.

According to the university’s Office of Planning and Institutional Research, almost 94 percent of students who entered programs at Georgetown in fall 2004 graduated within six years.

Despite Georgetown’s high 2009 ranking, more recent data from the university shows that its graduation rate has since dropped. Only 88.9 percent of the Class of 2010 graduated within four years, a 1.2 percent decrease from the Class of 2009.