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Understanding Student Retention Student retention involves the way students enroll, stay enrolled, complete their degrees, or drop out. It describes the flow of students through college over a discrete period of time. Retention is often described in two different ways: as degree completion versus non-completion, and as dropping out versus not dropping out. These approaches give somewhat different perspectives on the phenomenon and produce different results in some student subgroups. Student retention analyses consist of: graduation rate analyses, examination of retention patterns, investigation of student attrition behavior, historical analyses that lead to an understanding of past trends, and insight into the psychosocial dynamics associated with retention. Retention Analyses Following the snapshot model used by many institutions (i.e. IPEDS, NCAA, CSU Chancellor's Office), Cal Poly Pomona's retention rates were calculated by assessing the student status at two distinct points in time. Traditionally these calculations begin with a Fall term and end with a Fall term. For example, calculating a one-year retention rate for the Fall 1999 cohort would be calculated by examining enrollment status in Fall 1999 and then in Fall 2000 (1- year later). This type of calculation provides valuable trend data across multiple rate-years (i.e. 1, 4, 6, and 8 years). However, this snapshot approach to calculating retention rates does have a few limitations. First, using this approach we are not able to assess if a student has been continuously enrolled across all the quarters in a particular time period (e.g. 16 quarters: 4 year rate). Second, because we only assess the ending quarter, our information about not enrolled students is limited. Consider the following example: A student enters as a freshman in Fall 1994. Six years later, in Fall 2000 the student's retention status is "not enrolled." Due to the snapshot approach in which we assess only the beginning and ending term, we are unable to determine if this student has dropped out of the university (has not been enrolled for 3 consecutive academic quarters) or if the student is merely taking the Fall quarter off. Future retention analyses using other retention models are planned. These analyses will provide more in-depth information on enrollment patterns and their effect on student retention. Retention Terminology |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cohort | A group of students who enrolled in a specific quarter (e.g. Fall 2001) |
| Continuing | Refers to a student who continues to be enrolled. |
| Graduated | The student attained a degree. |
| Not Enrolled | Student is not attending the university in the academic quarter being assessed. |
| Persistence* | Student retention status: continuing, graduated, or not enrolled |
| Continuation rate | Percent of students who continued to be enrolled after 1 year. |
| Persistence rate* | Student retention status over a discrete period of time (e.g. 1 year or 6 years) |
| Dropout | Student who was not enrolled for three consecutive academic quarters. |
| Remediation status | Level of preparation for college. Students are either exempt from remedial work, have passed Entry Level Math and English Proficiency Tests, or they are not prepared and need a remedial classe(s). |
| ELM | Entry Level Math |
| EPT | English Proficiency Test |
| Major change | A student initiated change of major. |
| Major change year | Ordinal year in which a student changed her or his major (e.g. 1st, 2nd, etc.) |
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* The terms "persistence" and "retention" are used synonymously in some reports. However, retention is the Student Sub-populations |
| Student Type | Definition |
|---|---|
| First-Time Freshmen | Students entering Cal Poly Pomona for the first time who have never attended any postsecondary institution; including students enrolled in the Fall term who attended college for the first time in the prior summer term, and students who entered with advanced standing because of college credits earned prior to graduation from high school. |
| Regularly Admitted First-Time Freshmen | Students who meet all the CSU regular admission criteria. |
| Undergraduate Transfers | Students entering Cal Poly Pomona for the first time, but are known to have previously attended another undergraduate postsecondary institution. Students may transfer with or without credits. |
| Upper Division Transfers | Undergraduate transfers who have transferred enough credits to qualify for Junior class level. |
| Credential Students | Students seeking a teaching credential |
| Graduate Students | Students who are enrolled in a Master's program. |
| Undeclared Student | Students who have not declared a major. |
| Athletes | Students who are members of an intercollegiate athletic team. For more info: http://dsa.csupomona.edu/athletics/info.asp |
| EOP Students | Students who participate in the Educational Opportunity Program. |