ERIC Number: ED615315
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Apr
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Abstractor: As Provided
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Why Have College Completion Rates Increased? An Analysis of Rising Grades. Working Paper 28710
Denning, Jeffrey T.; Eide, Eric R.; Mumford, Kevin; Patterson, Richard W.; Warnick, Merrill
National Bureau of Economic Research
College completion rates declined from the 1970s to the 1990s. We document that this trend has reversed--since the 1990s, college completion rates have increased. We investigate the reasons for the increase in college graduation rates. Collectively, student characteristics, institutional resources, and institution attended do not explain much of the change. However, we show that grade inflation can explain much of the change in graduation rates. We show that GPA is a strong predictor of graduation rates and that GPAs have been rising since the 1990s. We also find that in national survey data and rich administrative data from 9 large public universities increases in college GPAs cannot be explained by student demographics, preparation, and school factors. Further, we find that at a public liberal arts college, grades have increased over time conditional on final exam performance. [Research support for this report was received from the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at Brigham Young University.]
Descriptors: College Graduates, Grade Point Average, State Universities, Student Characteristics, Institutional Characteristics, Predictor Variables, Educational Trends, Grade Inflation, Graduation Rate, Tests, Achievement Gains, Liberal Arts
National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
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Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A