Middle Tennessee State University is making efforts to increase its graduation rate, but still just over half its students are completing college within six years. According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 53% of MTSU students who began in fall 2004 graduated by 2010. That was fourth best among the state’s 4-year public universities. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was tops with 67%. Tennessee Tech had a 55% graduation rate, and UT-Martin’s rate was 54%. Nearly half of students enrolling at MTSU don’t graduate and nearly a fifth don’t make it past freshmen year. Higher Education Commission Policy Adviser David Wright told the Daily News Journal that the school’s graduation rate is improving. In 2006, the 6-year graduation rate was only 47%.