An Overview of Retention and Graduation Rates at UK Roger P. Sugarman, Ph.D.

1. Associate Deans An Overview of Retention and Graduation Rates at UK Roger P. Sugarman, Ph.D. Director of Institutional Research April 13, 2007

2. Organization of the Presentation • Efforts to Improve Retention: The Context • Past Efforts to Understand Why Students Leave UK • Admission Criteria and Academic Credentials • Student Outcomes • Cumulative first-year grades • DEW Rates • Retention and graduation rates • Relevant Survey Data • Expected odds of being successful • Time spent studying/doing homework • Perceived academic challenge • Overall satisfaction with UK • Concluding thoughts on understanding and improving retention at UK

3. Thoughts on Retention Rates • Retention rates are widely regarded as an indicator of institutional effectiveness • Low retention rates may indicate that an institution has difficulty meeting students’ needs and expectations • Half of all students who fail to earn a bachelor’s degree drop out either during or just after their first year • UK’s retention rate for the 2004 cohort, tied for last among its benchmarks, is 14 percentage-points below the median rate

4. Michigan St. 91% North Carolina St. 89% Ohio St. 90% Penn St. 93% Purdue 84% Texas A&M 92% Arizona 79% UCLA 97% Florida 94% Georgia 93% Illinois 93% Iowa 84% Maryland 93% Michigan 96% Minnesota 87% North Carolina 96% Virginia 97% Washington 93% Wisconsin 94% Retention Rates at UK’s Benchmark InstitutionsThe Fall 2004 Cohort University of Kentucky 79% Source: CSRDE; data are for internal planning and policy development purposes only.

5. Thoughts on Graduation Rates • The graduation rate for UK’s 1999 cohort is second to last among its benchmark institutions • UK’s graduation rate is 16 percentage-points below the benchmarks’ median rate • Six of UK’s benchmarks have graduation rates that exceed our retention rate!

6. Michigan St. 76% North Carolina St. 70% Ohio St. 68% Penn St. 86% Purdue 67% Texas A&M 77% Arizona 59% UCLA 87% Florida 79% Georgia 73% Illinois 80% Iowa 66% Maryland 76% Michigan 87% Minnesota 61% North Carolina 84% Virginia 93% Washington 74% Wisconsin 78% Graduation Rates at UK’s Benchmark InstitutionsThe Fall 1999 Cohort University of Kentucky 60% Source: CSRDE; data are for internal planning and policy development purposes only.

7. The 2004 Retention Study Phase I: National Students Clearinghouse Search Phase II: Analysis of the Status of Non-Returning Students Phase III: Telephone Survey of Non-Returning Students

8. Results of the National Student Clearinghouse Database Search • Over 90% of the nation’s colleges furnish enrollment data to the NSC database • The study focused initially on 3,718 first-time, first-year students from the Fall 2002 cohort • IR staff found that 865 students (23%) did not return to UK for their sophomore year • The NSC was able to find records that 619 of these 865 students had transferred • Nearly half of the transfers had enrolled at: LCC (131), UofL (63), NKU (38), JCC (32), and WKU (29)

9. The Fall 2002 Cohort of First-Year Students:Collegiate Status in 2003-04 Source: UK Office of Institutional Research and National Student Clearinghouse

10. Academic Status of First-Year Students Who Left UK During or After Their First Year

11. OIR/SRC Telephone Survey of Non-Returning First-Year Students • Survey targeted 583 first-year students who were either in good standing or on probation • SRC staff eventually contacted 293 of these students • 250 students consented to be interviewed, which constitutes a response rate of 85%.

12. Students’ Most Important Reasons for Leaving UK

13. “I would recommend UK to another student as a good place to go to school”

14. What are students’ reasons for transferring to their new institution? • Students’ most important reasons for transferring were highly consistent with their reasons for leaving UK • Relative to UK, students reported that their new institution . . . • was closer to home (42.0%) • was less expensive (9.8%) • offered a program/major not at UK (9.8%) • was smaller in size (7.3%)

15. Trends in the Academic Credentials of Incoming First-year Cohorts

16. Applied, Admitted and EnrolledFall 2000 – Fall 2006 Applied Admitted Enrolled

17. First-year Student Profile: 1997 - 2006 Governor’s Scholars/School for the Arts Valedictorians National Merit Scholars

18. Applicants, Admitted and Enrolled StudentsPercent with HS GPA above 3.0 By Race/Ethnicity Note: students who did not present HS GPAs are excluded from percentages.

19. Applicants, Admitted and Enrolled StudentsPercent with HS GPA above 3.0 By Race/Ethnicity Note: students who did not present HS GPAs are excluded from percentages.

20. Applicants, Admitted and Enrolled StudentsPercent with HS GPA above 3.0 By Race/Ethnicity Note: students who did not present HS GPAs are excluded from percentages.

21. Applicants, Admitted and Enrolled StudentsPercent with HS GPA above 3.0 By Race/Ethnicity Note: students who did not present HS GPAs are excluded from percentages.

22. High School GPAs 1997 – 2006 Cohorts Source: Office of Institutional Research

23. ACT Composite Scores 1999 – 2006 Cohorts 25th/75th Percentile 2006 21/26 2005 22/27 2004 21/27 2003 22/27 2002 21/26 2001 21/26 2000 21/26 1999 22/27 Note: Some students submit SAT scores rather than ACT scores. These students’ scores are not reflected in the table and graph.

24. Selective Admissions CriteriaFall 2005 - Fall 2006 In the selective admissions process, students must meet one of the four sets of criteria below: • 3.50 HS GPA and 20 or above on ACT • 3.00 – 3.49 HS GPA and 21 or above on ACT • 2.50 – 2.99 HS GPA and 22 or above on ACT • 2.00 – 2.49 HS GPA and 28 or above on ACT Students who do not meet the above criteria may be admitted through the competitive admissions process

25. Competitive vs. Selective Pool: Fall 2005 - 2006

26. Competitive vs. Selective Pool Note: Retention and graduation rates were modeled using current admission criteria

27. Student Outcomes: Grades, Retention and Graduation Rates

28. First-semester GPAs by SexFall 2001 – Fall 2006

29. First-semester GPAs by Race/EthnicityFall 2001 – Fall 2006

30. DEW Rates in Selected Coursesfor Fall 2006 First-Year Students

31. Percent of Cohort Qualifying for Suspension or Probation Based on Their First Fall Semester GPA

32. Percent of African American Student Cohorts Qualifying for Suspension or Probation Based on Their First Fall Semester GPA N = 261 N = 151 N = 202 N = 165 N = 142 N = 286

33. Student Success MeasuresFirst-Semester Grade Point Average by H.S. GPA Range: 2000 - 2006 Cohorts In good academic standing High School GPA

34. Student Success MeasuresFirst-Semester Grade Point Average by ACT Scores*:2000 - 2006 Cohorts In good academic standing ACT Composite Scores* *Note: includes converted SAT Scores

35. Retention Rates: 1996 Cohort – 2005 Cohort Note: Retention rates reported here may differ slightly from other sources due to minor differences in reporting criteria.

37. Student Success MeasuresFirst-to-Second Year Retention Rates by H.S. GPA:2000 - 2005 Cohorts Strategic Plan Indicator Most Recent Ret. Rate

38. Academic Credentials and Outcomes for the Past Seven UK Cohorts * Based on preliminary enrollment data

39. Academic Credentials and Outcomes for the Past Seven UK Cohorts * Based on preliminary enrollment data

40. Retention and Graduation Rates by HS GPA, ACT and First-term Credit Hour Load Note: Retention rates averaged from fall 2000 – 2005 cohorts; Graduation rates averaged from fall 1994 – 2000 cohorts.

41. Retention and Graduation Rates by HS GPA, ACT and First-term Credit Hour Load Note: Retention rates averaged from fall 2000 – 2005 cohorts; Graduation rates averaged from fall 1994 – 2000 cohorts.

42. Retention and Graduation Rates by HS GPA, ACT and First-term Credit Hour Load Note: Retention rates averaged from fall 2000 – 2005 cohorts; Graduation rates averaged from fall 1994 – 2000 cohorts.

43. Retention Rates by Course Completion Scenarios

44. Retention Rates by Course Completion Scenarios

45. Retention Rates by Course Completion Scenarios

46. Retention Rates by Course Completion Scenarios

47. Retention Rates by Course Completion Scenarios

48. Retention Rates by Course Completion Scenarios

49. Graduation Rates: 1991 Cohort – 2000 Cohort Note: Graduation rates reported here may differ slightly from other sources due to minor differences in reporting criteria.