Ivies, U Chicago, Stanford, Rice, Duke, MIT, CIT, Hopkins, CMU, Northwestern, Northeastern, Notre Dame,GIT have top spots on this list with higher than 97% freshmen retention rates. There are also decent colleges with rates lower than 90% as well as colleges with really really low rates below 50%. Does an individual student really need to consider these rates during college search?
How much of this is dependent on a college?
Well, you should be asking all the colleges you are considering what kinds of academic support is offered to students, and verifying that information with students or other sources. You want to know that there are folks who can help when you’re struggling with a class.
There are many reasons top schools have high retention rates. First, the students who attend are generally accustomed to academic rigor. Second, there is usually no financial reason the students have to drop out, thanks to very large endowments that meet full need (or come close enough). Finally, those schools can afford to hire a large number of teaching assistants to cover office hours.
Lower ranked schools have more of a mixed bag. Some do very well at financial aid, but may not offer the mental health support system a different school will, for example. That’s why it is important to do your research to figure out what is important to you, to seek places where you have the most chance at success, and not who has the prettiest quad or the most luxurious dorm rooms.
At lower ranked schools many students will try to “transfer up” to more prestigious schools. They may have been denied at the state flagship and after a successful year or two they may qualify to transfer. Some colleges, e.g. Cornell, Boston University, offer guaranteed sophomore transfer to certain freshman applicants that lowers retention rates at other schools.
For colleges with lower retention rates, do some extra investigating to try to figure out why. Sometimes it’s due to offering a nice freshman package, but not following through later causing students to leave rather than taking on high loans (or their parents doing so). Sometimes it’s due to wanting to change majors and the school not offering it (happens more often at small LACs or specialized schools). Sometimes it’s due to not being happy at the school due to homesickness or the vibe of the school. Sometimes it’s due to not being able to keep up with the academics either academically (poor foundation from hs) or things like majoring in partying or other ECs (even really good ones can take up too much time from studying).
None of this might affect you, but it’s helpful to know things going in. My lads chose colleges that have 86%, 96%, and 82% freshmen retention rates respectively - I just looked them up - and all were quite happy. The lowest school would have been a combo of both being a big party school and not having a large number of majors if students changed their mind.
Does transfers and major changes count as drop out? I doubt it.
I think that part of the discussion has to include the kinds of students who get accepted in the first place.
For example, most non-flagship state schools get a pretty decent mix of kids from different backgrounds, different experiences, different academic standings. It stands to reason that they’ll have different experiences that first year-- some wonderfully unexpected, some not so wonderfully unexpected. A percentage of those will realize that either college or this college is simply not what they were looking for, and transfer out.
LIkewise, any private school that isn’t famous for great financial aid will have a percentage of kids who thought they could afford it, but realized that it’s simply too expensive.
What mattered to us was getting a school where our son and daughter felt they were a good fit for the school and the school was a good fit for them. What the other 99.9% of the freshman class did wasn’t the issue.
I do agree that students at lower ranked schools may try to transfer up to higher ranked schools, but at the same time, if a student is happy at the school then it is less likely he/she would want to transfer out. I think most students transfer out because it is the wrong fit. I would be concerned if a school’s retention rate is below 90% and if 6yr graduation rate is low.
My take on this is that highly selective schools choose students who are well prepared for college and want the experience that they offer. Furthermore, most have generous FA policies, so students are unlikely to stop out or leave because of affordability. At these schools, students leave for health reasons (theirs or the family’s), because the social fit was wrong, or because they discover an academic passion that school cannot satisfy but another can. LACS are more likely to see the latter two, I suspect.
Schools that are less selective, particularly publics, may take kids who “try” college and find it doesn’t work for them for any number of reasons. They may not be academically ready, they may need to work to afford it, they may not find their people. Many kids who transfer from state flagships transfer to another public closer to home.
Many schools have programs for students who are seen as most “at-risk” (i.e., first-gen, pell grant recipient ) and these help, but there are often kids who would benefit from these programs who are not in them. I think this is one thing schools can do to manage their numbers.
I also wonder if all schools count exactly the same way. If a kid decides not to return fall of sophomore year, does the college tell the kid they are on leave (and to consider returning when they have dealt with xyz) and not count them as having left until they enroll elsewhere? I know 2 kids who were given this option at the tippy tops they left. (One returned, one did not.)
I think it’s always worth looking at this kind of stat and asking what’s going on behind the numbers to figure out if it might impact you (ie, FA offers need to be renewed every year and isn’t! )
From a school 's pov, 100% is the goal, but I also wonder if there shouldn’t be a bit more room for a kid to discover that another option might be better for them. Not every high school senior knows what they want with such clarity. But once enrolled, few may feel they should walk away from a top rated school for a better fit.
I’ll repeat my question. Does transfer and major change count as drop out? I doubt those are a factor in freshmen retention.
Major changes within a school don’t count because the student still attends there, but not all schools offer all majors. My lad who graduated from the 82% school told me one of his friends transferred out because they wanted an education major - not offered at his school. I doubt that student was the only one.
I assume those who transfer out - going to another school - count as not returning sophomore year.
I would think transfer within a school or changing major would not be counted as drop out. Cornell has 7 schools, if a student were to transfer from one school to another it wouldn’t counted as drop out, why would it be?
Even ones transferring wouldn’t count as drop out unless they are taking semester or year off and not sending transcripts to another college.
@Riversider - not sure why you asked your question.
@Riversider I’m unsure what you are asking about. Freshmen retention rate is the number of students who return for their sophomore year. If a student does, they add to the number. If they drop out or choose to attend another completely different school elsewhere, then they don’t. At least that’s the way I was taught to interpret it.
I think Riversider was talking to himself or just thinking out loud.
I know a number of DD’s friends who are at state flagships who are trying to transfer to Ivies for sophomore year (some with Cornell’s guarantee transfer). Those students would be in the not returning number.
DD also has friends who decided to switch out because of a change in major.
IMO, it’s more important to look at academic supports than worry about these specific numbers.
I’m trying to understand why everyone is counting transfers and major changes as drop outs?
Schools aren’t tracking “drop outs”. They are tracking students who don’t return to THEIR university sophomore year.
@Riversider, it’s pretty simple: Take the kids who STAY at a university for their second year (who don’t transfer or drop out). Divide that number by the total number of students. That gives you the retention rate.
If a student transfers to another university the original university does not "retain’ that student. Thus it lowers the “retention” rate. The reason for leaving the original university is irrelevant.