Introduction

Over 90 million individuals in the United States hold some form of a college degree, and even more have attempted to complete such a formal education. Several decades ago, the ability to attain a college education was only for the elite; only those with the financial access and connections felt the need to achieve such a prestigious title. However, in today's society, it is almost an expectation for young adults to get a college education and pursue employment opportunities following their graduation. The variety of degrees to study have expanded beyond the traditional business or STEM fields and now anyone can pursue their passion at the collegiate level. Considering this rise in the need and desire for a college education, people often do not consider the risk of starting a college career and not completing it. With this in mind, it is interesting to investigate potential factors contributing to completion of a college degree after enrolling in a university.

Many factors may impact a student's successful completion of a university degree: the cost of tuition, the size and location of a specific institution, pre-entrance exams such as the SAT, etc. The following research arose from an interest in discerning which university-specific factors are most indicative of student success, where “student success” is defined as degree completion rate. Understanding which metrics are more or less indicative of student success is helpful for both prospective and current students to help tailor either their application process or current studies to maximize the chance of successful completion. To attain more insights into these topics, several statistical analyses are performed with the intention of answering the following data science question: What factors contribute to a student's successful completion of a Bachelor's degree?