USNA Graduation Rates?

[Integer1]

About 20% of each academy's students do not graduate. Why? Do those numbers include plebe summer dropouts, or not (since they didn't actually start USNA in September.) I would think that if the 20% are students who actually PASSED Plebe Summer but then quit, then they did so because they were not academically tough enough or because had no business being in the military in the first place.

20% is a BIG NUMBER, and you would think that since there are 1200 entrants, and the Academy had 4,000 extra people to choose from in recent years (14,000 instead of 10,000), that they'd be able to find students who could handle the academics! Does anybody know if the 20% has come down in recent years? If so, it means the academic load was the problem for many of those students.

Yet, I would guess that the reason responsible for dropouts could be people who decide they don't want a military life. What do you guys think about that?

 

[NAPSmom05]

I think it's a combination of things: some being natural attrition. The Naval Academy is still very los compared to civilian colleges. But, I know what you're saying. At such a low acceptance rate, you would think the kids would stay. But, I think it's a sign that the admissions department makes some obvious mistakes. There is no system that is foolproof, but they miss on both sides kids who should/shouldn't be there. So, I think it's a combo between academics, desire for military life, complete culture shock, using the military for the first 2 years for a "free ride", and other life situations that make going to college at that time difficult/impossible. Anyway, just my thoughts...

 

[usnaxc08]

The 20% rate does include Plebe Summer. A candidate starts at the United States Naval Academy on Induction day.

 

[big]

Right, a big part of that is the numbers who drop during Plebe Summer. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the majority of the people who do dropout in PS are people just out of high school who have no clue what they're about to face and maybe do not realize what military life at the academy entails. I doubt it has much to do with academics, since the people who do get in aren't stupid due to the thorough academic check the admissions board does on applicants. The only people who might have problems are some of the athletes (not putting anyone down in anyway ) who are recruited not because of academic success but their ability to play a particular sport well, but even they receive extra help to ensure they can stay and succeed.

 

[ghost]

Look people leave the academy for many different reasons. Granted quite a few quit during plebe summer, but that is expected. They academy accepts more candidates than it is legally allowed because it knows a certain percentage are likely to quit during plebe summer. However I would say that less than half of the people who leave do so during plebe summer.

Significant numbers get kicked out for conduct/Honor reasons. People also get kicked out for academics. Just because someone did well at HS academics does not mean that they will be able to handle academics with the various other demands you face at the academy. A significant number get through plebe and youngster years and decide they do not want to make the obligation to the navy for the next seven years.

Also I am sick of hearing how recruited athletes get an unfair advantage and "took a slot from some other deserving person." Not everything surrounds how well you can take tests. There are people that want to get into the academy that use their athletic ability to improve their chances of admittance. If you look at the numbers, varsity athletes at USNA have a higher GPA than brigade at as a whole. That is despite the many extra hours they put in practicing, traveling, and competing. They have to take all the same classes as everyone else and make up the work when they miss class. That is pretty impressive to me.

The admission board is looking for a diverse class that will become leaders in the Navy/Marine Corps. There is no way they can look at a candidate and say that he or she will definitely graduate in four years. It is an imperfect world full of imperfect people.

ghost

 

[Integer1]

If the 20% includes plebe summer drop outs, then it's not that bad of a statistic. Thanks!

 

[big]

It's all about gouge

 

[petescheu]

Kids don't make it through the Academy for a lot of reasons. Some kids drop plebe summer like ya'll were saying, although that number has gone down lately with the more PC plebe summer gets. Some kids drop plebe year. Some kids fail out. Some kids decide it's just not for them. And some kids get kicked out. From my company we lost about 10 kids over the first summer, one during frosh year, one got a med discharge, and one failed out, to give you an idea of numbers. Although I don't know what the plebe summer numbers are anymore, I'm sure they are a lot lower attrition now. If you're there, and you really want to be there, and you aren't stupid or don't do anything stupid, you'll be fine.

 

[H20man]

the USMMA back in march or so got rid of about 40 students, and only rolled back about 6, this info is secondhand, one guy i know who got rolled back and others who are up there.

the reason they the ppl were failing academics, the 6 or so who got rolled showed that they wanted to be there.

that 40 number may be a little high, but still thats a lot of ppl when each year has about 270-280 in it.

 

[viv]

I'm fairly sure that an 80 percent graduation rate in four years is actually higher than the national average for college students. At my old school, Georgia Tech, I think only about 30 percent of the students graduated in 4 years.