LSU six-year graduation rate hits record high, 66.7%

The six-year graduation rate at LSU has reached an all-time high of 66.7%, university officials announced this morning. Graduates who enrolled as new freshmen in 2006 account for the record rate, which is up from 61.9% last year. LSU says its graduation rate has exceeded 60% for five straight years now, and that the new record will mark the first time LSU’s rate is higher than the average of its peers, evaluated in an annual report by the Southern Regional Education Board. LSU’s graduation rate has nearly doubled over the past 20 years. In 1993 the university reported a graduation rate of 39.4% for freshmen who entered six years earlier. “While seeing increased graduation rates is a positive, there is still work to be done,” says LSU Interim System President and Interim Chancellor William Jenkins in a prepared statement. “We will continue to work hard to make sure our students are successful in their academic endeavors.”