(MoneyWatch) College is expensive, but it costs even more for the students who don't graduate in four years (and the odds of pulling this off aren't good).



At public universities, 31.3 percent of students graduate in the traditional four years, versus 52.4 percent for those at private, nonprofit institutions. An excellent place to find and compare graduation rates is at the College Completion section on the website of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Not surprisingly, the state schools with the best graduation rates tend to be the wealthier state flagships, while the institutions with the rates are regional universities that could be characterized as drop-out factories. The Following lists state universities with the best and worst six-year graduation rates:



Best state university graduation rates



University of Virginia, 92.7 percent University of California, Berkeley, 91.1 percent University of California, Los Angeles, 89.8 percent University of Michigan. 89.7 percent College of William and Mary, 89.7 percent United States Naval Academy, 88.6 percent University of North Carolina, 88.1 percent College of New Jersey, 86.2 percent University of California, San Diego, 86.1 percent United States Military Academy, 85.7 percent Pennsylvania State University, 85.3 percent University of Florida, 84.5 percent University of Illinois, 84.4 percent University of Wisconsin, 83.0 percent University of California, Irvine, 82.6 percent James Madison University, 82.5 percent University of California, Davis, 82.3 percent United States Air Force Academy, 81.5 percent University of Maryland, 81.5 percent University of Connecticut, 80.7 percent University of Washington, 80. 4 percent University of Texas, 80.3 percent Miami University (Ohio), 80.2 percent Texas A&M University, 79.9 percent Virginia Tech University 79.9 percent

