The local public colleges that enroll the most Boston high school graduates have had a dismal record seeing them through to a degree, with many posting graduation rates of less than 25 percent, according to a study that reviewed the collegiate careers of the city's class of 2000.
Only 20.7 percent of the 150 students from the class who attended the University of Massachusetts at Boston - the most popular four-year public college for Boston high school students - graduated by the spring of 2007. By contrast, the most popular private school, Northeastern University, has handed degrees to 82.5 percent of the 80 Boston students from that class who enrolled there by the fall of 2001.
The rates at other popular public colleges were even worse. Bunker Hill Community College graduated 14.2 percent of its 155 Boston students, while Roxbury Community College had a graduation rate of 5.9 percent for its 101 Boston enrollees, according to new data released by the Boston Private Industry Council at the Globe's request. The council is a group of city business leaders who work on education policy issues.
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