Graduation Rate (II)

How long does it take to graduate an engineer in a developing country?
Graduation rate has never been an issue here at the University of El Salvador. University policy makers are interested in enrolling more freshman. Enrolling more students payoff. On one hand, it is easy to justify the need for more money from the goverment. On the other hand, homegrown radicals  feel pleased by allowing more students to enroll. In their view, the people's university should not deny access to nobody. That mix of views has proven very damaging for the whole of society.

Take for instance, the electrical engineering department; one of eight engineering departments at the college of engineering (Facultad de Ingeniería y Arquitectura). It graduates less than seven percent of their total enrollment. Students take more than nine years to get their diploma.

Observing the graduation rate graph one can see a paradox of public universities in developing countries, at least in Latin America. In the american subcontinent universities eagerly believe they are devoted for the poor. But keeping our young studying nine years of their lives out of the market labor is not only damaged for the family core but for the society as a whole.