Recently, you may have heard the rumors about BV West’s falling rate of alumni graduating from college in four to six years. When I heard that, I was a bit surprised and immediately looked into it, but as I learned more about the situation, I luckily found the rumors to be mostly false.
According to Assistant Principal Linda Kapfer, the latest statistics show that the percent of BV alumni graduated college in four to six years has stayed pretty consistent over the years. There is no dramatic drop.
If we look at it, statistic-by-statistic, we can see the difference between BV West and the nation overall. I was informed that on average 90 percent of BV West seniors at the end of the school year say they plan on going to college the next year. In 2007, 80 percent of the seniors at schools in the United States, Europe and the Pacific said they planned on attending a four-year or community college. However, the BV West alumni that actually attend college the following school year is lower at 78 percent, while the 2008 national average also falls to 69 percent. Then, BV West’s average decreases to about 66 percent the following year (those seniors’ sophomore year of college). For the nation as of 2007, the rate is almost 58 percent.
After sophomore year is where BV West begins its downfall in the rates, according to Kapfer, and this is where the rumors begin to show some truth. I think that it could be explained by saying that BV West students are getting more focused on their future and are pursuing harder coursework programs, and not that BV West is losing its academic prowess.
When I say “getting more focused on their future”, I mean they know where they plan on going with their life. Maybe they have a plan or even just a list of goals, and with that, they are planning their college credits in a way that guarantees an early degree in less than four years. Another option is that they are not going to college full-time or at all. For example, an alumnae or alumna could have financial issues and possibly have to work more hours to compensate, which could easily push their degree back a year or so. Other students may have already had jobs awaiting them after high school, such as a family-run business or an important position at a company, which may take away from their time for working on college coursework and may even force them to delay college indefinitely. And still more could have just gone straight to their dream job, which may not necessarily require a degree, like being an artist, writer, or small business owner, though any of those could benefit from a degree or further instruction.
On the other part of my guess, the BV alumni could be doing more advanced coursework that requires more than six years, like with numerous Masters or Doctorate programs. Above average education is what the district strives for, so naturally, at least a few students or so would be going above and beyond with their college work after spending some time in any of the BV schools. With the large amount of BV high school courses and programs that are specialized to introduce challenging, career-focused work, we can find a lot of students who aim to take degree programs that last more than six years, so the lower rate of BV West college graduates in four to six years could just show that students are simply becoming better learners that want to work toward more challenging professions.
Some people could say that the lower percentage tells us that BV West is beginning to lag with their education skills, but I think that they should have a little more faith in our schools and students. BV West is always finding success in almost every field of academics and sport in athletics, and the students are no different. So, when you hear someone say that the lowering rate of BV West alumni graduating from college in four to six years is a sign that BV West is finally falling behind, ignore it. We are as successful as always, but we are just showing it in a different way.