Dr. Michael R. Lovell (center, blue), president of Marquette University, takes the stage at the university’s 2016 commencement. A recent study found that Marquette has the highest six-year graduation rate among Wisconsin private universities. Credit: Michael Sears

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Fewer than two-thirds of students graduate within six years from 17 of Wisconsin's 22 private, nonprofit colleges and universities, a new study says.

A report done by Third Way, a centrist think tank in Washington, D.C., released the six-year graduation rates for private schools based on data from the U.S. Department of Education. The rates were part of a larger analysis that ranked private, nonprofit schools across the country based on per-student cost after federal aid, repayment rates of student loans and earning power of students six years after graduation.

Highest rankings of Wisconsin schools in the study were awarded to Marquette University, St. Norbert College and the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The lowest ranking schools were Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Alverno College, Silver Lake College and Concordia University.

MIAD ranked the lowest of the Wisconsin schools at 827 out of more than 1,000 schools nationwide.

MIAD addressed the report in a statement saying the school is "relentless in researching and implementing ways to help our students not only graduate, but to find rewarding and meaningful careers."

In a recent change, MIAD is also having students meet with their advisers twice per semester until graduation.

The private, nonprofit school with the worst six-year graduation rate in the state was Mount Mary University, with 38%. Other schools with a rate below 50% were Marian University, Viterbo University, Lakeland College, Cardinal Stritch University Silver Lake College and Alverno.

The report didn't evaluate public schools, but UW System schools show similar graduation rates.

UW-Madison had a six-year graduation rate of 85%. Among others: UW-Milwaukee at 40%, UW-Whitewater at 60% and UW-Eau Claire at 65%. The UW System as a whole has a rate of about 60%.

Rolf Wegenke, president of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said the data regarding graduation rates from the U.S. Department of Education is skewed because it doesn't account for transfer students. He said a college such as Silver Lake takes in a large amount of transfers from two-year technical colleges and that would cause it to have a lower rate.

In a statement, Silver Lake College spokeswoman Suzanne Weiss said the college prides itself for its affordability and said compiling a list that compares Ivy League schools to small Wisconsin liberal arts colleges is "comparing the proverbial apples to oranges."

The report also compares the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants to the graduation rate over a six-year period. The report revealed that universities with a higher percentage of students with Pell Grants had lower graduation rates.

Alverno College had the highest percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, at 61%, and had a completion rate of about 39%. Marquette University had the highest completion rate of all the Wisconsin schools, at about 80%, but the lowest Pell Grant percentage, at 16%.

A spokesman for Alverno noted the college's high percentage of Pell Grant students and said a number of factors play into the graduation rate, including a high percentage of students balancing school with jobs and family. At Alverno, 75% of students are the first in their families to attend college, he said.

"There has been a commitment at Alverno to address high-need students, and we have been working to create more scholarship opportunities for students," spokesman Sebastian Thachenkary said. "We are certainly working to reduce costs and provide additional funding."