before one can really comment on "data" they need to know what that "data" represents
so lets take a look at that
more than likely here is where this "data" (with nothing else along with it) comes from
http://qz.com/276801/here-are-the-us-col...ack-loans/
what does this article state
Here are the big public schools with the highest three-year default rates. This list is limited to schools that had at least 5,000 students go into repayment mode in fiscal 2011—mostly schools on the large side.
ok so right off the bat we have eliminated a ton of public universities from consideration because you would have to have a graduating class (or more correctly a class of former students going into repayment) of 5,000 or more students each year to be considered
so even with a university that might graduate 50% of their students (UTSA 6 year is 49.2%) you would need a graduating class of 2,500 students and a non-graduating class of 2,500 students (50% + 50%) ALL on student loans and going into repayment to have 5,000 students going into repayment
so that is a pretty large size university right there even if a very very large % of your students are on financial aid/student loans.......so that probably eliminates a pretty large portion of the 34+ public universities in Texas right there from consideration
just using easy generalized numbers if 100% of your university was on student loans and 100% of your university graduated in 4 years and 100% of your university was undergrads and zero grad students you would have a university of 20,000 students
5,000 per year graduating, 5,000 more coming in and then soph., jr. and sr (the next to graduate) all numbering 5,000......or 20,000 total students
and we know that 100% of students at any public university are not on student loans, 100% do not graduate in 4 years or even 5 years or even 6 years and 100% are not undergrads
so it takes a university of well over 20,000 students to meet the criteria to even be on that graph
there are 38 public universities listed in Texas by enrollment......it is really 36 because Rio Grande College is a part of Sul Ross and TAMU-Galveston is really part of College Station, but of those 36 (excluding the above 2) 25 of them have enrollments below 20,000 and most of them are WELL below 20,000
hell 17 of them are below 10,000 students so to make that graph they would have to graduate over half of their enrollment every year and have 100% of them on student loans
so that graph excludes a massive number of the public universities in Texas and the USA in general
next we need to look at the overall numbers for default of public universities
here is a link to that drawn from the above link where the posted "data" came from
http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/default...erates.pdf
so when including ALL public universities we can see that some of the schools on that graph are well withing the overall average of what public university students in general from ALL public universities default at
for 4 year public universities it was 8.9% in 2011
so while no one wants to be "above average" on a bad statistic the reality is someone has to be above average and someone has to be below average unless everyone is average.....and with 650 schools represented that will not be happening.......but it is not as though many on that list are even going to be near the highest overall default rate out of the total 650 4 year public schools listed......they just happen to be the ones that have over 5,000 former students going into repayment while the ones with less than that (many that are still large universities) get a pass from making that particular graph
there are still questions that the administrations of those universities should probably be asking themselves so they can just cut that number down in general.....no matter if they are only slightly above average or where they would fall if all schools were listed.....but it is hardly the horrid reflection on some of them it appears to be at first glance
the first thing I would look at is what major were these students......how many of them graduated and how many did not and how prepared for college overall were those students coming into the university
I can agree with the points previously stated that "go to college" is not for everyone and should not be pushed as hard as it is......but I think the real crime is not "go to college", but rather "get McDegree"
I believe (I would have to look) that "psychology" is the number 1 major and I am pretty sure even larger of a % for females.....as I am sure most with a college degree know there are no "psychologist" jobs for people with an undergrad degree.......for that you need a masters and I would imagine a grossly disproportionate % of students that choose that major going into college have no idea of that......hell I would bet most don't have a clue what they would do even if they had the masters
sure there are human resources jobs and other similar administrative assistant positions available for "physiology" (and philosophy and sociology) majors, but many of them you need no degree for starting out and a degree will only serve to get you above some relatively low glass ceiling in the future over those with no degree.....and many of them are probably getting an associates at community college once they figure that out and that is probably enough for the first ceiling so you and your 4 year degree will still be competing with them for advancement and they probably have "years at the company" going for them while you were in a 4 year university....and that matters at places that hire large amounts of HR/Administrative/paper pusher types.....so your 4 year degree will not help until the next glass ceiling (if ever)
add in "Engrish" majors.....History, Anthropology, Media Studies and on and on and you have people getting degrees that lead them to really no career path......when college has been sold and pushed to them as a CAREER PATH......and all the worse when the common body of knowledge that college used to provide to people has been "PCed" into a series of BS indoctrination classes that fill young minds with mush while stealing dollars and time from them to pay moron professors that would be useless in the real world for anything because even PhDs have been dumbed down significantly in enough subjects to make most that have them nothing but fools incapable of rational thought much less actual insight while empowering them to believe they are without question because they have paper hanging on the wall
I would as an admin look at cutting the enrollment on the programs that were producing the highest number of student loan defaults and upping the admissions requirements for those particular program and possibly even requiring some to enter those programs only after fulfilling their first two years of core courses at a community college or elsewhere with a particular GPA......I would also then tie some faculty pay and raises to employment % for those students coming out of that degree program and I would probably bidding adieu to several of them as well (faculty and possibly even degree programs)
I would look at the overall preparedness rates of those with the highest defaults as well and work to address that.....again possibly by either keeping them out (you do no favors giving people a degree loaded with debt they can't discharge and can't pay off with their "earned" degree) or making cheaper options and transfer paths available/required for them
I would also look at departmental/school/college level efforts and resources expended for job placement after graduation AND while students are in school......are these departments loading students down with "make work" and preventing them from working while in school.....do the students in these majors choose not to work while in school.....does the department/school/college have placement for them......do the professors lift a finger to make it happen.....do those professors even have a clue what career path THEIR students might follow.....have they communicated that to students at all EVER.....if not why not.....do some of them need to hit the road to some other slacker university to fill young minds with mush and load them with debt.....probably so
but again looking at the data and understanding it shows that several on that list are really just "average" or slightly above average in an overall issue that is important and that needs to be addressed......but sadly will probably be incorrectly and poorly and even more harmfully addressed