These rank as a huge waste of resources and say as much about the quality of the institution as the suitability of candidates to follow degree-level courses. Levels in many countries are improving, although this took something of a knock during the period 2020-22 because of the pandemic. Overall, the UK (6.4%) and Japan (7%) have the lowest dropout rates, in Germany (14.7%) and Spain (16%) the rate is much higher and in Australia (37.4%) and USA (40%) the rates amount to a national educational disaster. However, graduation rates differ significantly between institutions, with the lowest in the USA – the Southern University of New Orleans having only 4% of students completing with a degree. At the other end of the scale is Harvard with a graduation rate of 98% and MIT with a rate of 95.4%. In the UK 99% of Cambridge University entrants leave with a degree and 98.8% of Oxford graduates. One reason for high retention is not only because these institutions attract the strongest candidates, but that they also can demonstrate a high employability rate after graduation.