Do More Expensive Colleges Actually Have Better Graduation Rates?
Mark Kantrowitz
February 11, 2026
Higher net price correlates with higher graduation rates, largely due to student resources and institutional spending power.
Colleges serving more Pell Grant recipients have lower graduation rates, reflecting financial fragility rather than student ability.
Selectivity predicts completion, because colleges admit students who are already more likely to graduate.
College costs are rising, student debt is a major topic of debate, and graduation rates are increasingly used as a proxy for value. But here’s the uncomfortable question most families don’t ask soon enough: Do higher-priced colleges actually deliver better outcomes—or just higher bills?
In Who Graduates from College? Who Doesn’t?, I analyze how both student-level and institutional factors shape college completion. While academic preparation and enrollment intensity matter, the data reveals a consistent pattern: graduation rates tend to be higher at colleges with higher net prices, greater selectivity, and fewer low-income students.
