Our state universities have a little admission to make.

It’s a little embarrassing, being the “Education State” and all…

Graduation rates are declining at the state’s three major universities, dipping below the national average.

Supposedly being a leader in education in the nation, this stings a bit.

At Iowa State in particular, the school has a six-year graduation rate for the 1990 entering class of 60 percent, dipping 2.6 percent from the previous year.

Maybe that doesn’t seem like such a dip.

Maybe graduating 60 percent of its students in six years or less isn’t that bad.

But we think it is.

According to the statistics, two out of five students at ISU will drop out, transfer or take longer than six years to graduate.

Two out of five.

Look around you, and ponder that one. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that maybe 60 percent isn’t such a great number after all.

In fact, in keeping with the uniform percentage grading scale, ISUgets a “D-” in graduation.

Maybe that passes for Charles Schulze’s Peppermint Patty, but for the “Education State” it seems a little flimsy.

It seems especially poor when one considers a rise in tuition at state universities above the rate of inflation.

You get what you pay for? Maybe not.

ISU seems to be very adept at packaging and marketing itself. Witness our athletic department, the fund raising for various campus activities, Veishea, its ability to recruit and attract top national students.

Why then, are our graduation rates so subpar?Is it solely the fault of students, or is there some other reason for such a lackadaisical performance by the university?

Packaging and “selling” the university is relatively easy. ISU has that down pat.

It’s the actual substance of the educational process that seems to be faltering, however.