Dive Brief:
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College persistence rates are up for the third year in a row, showing a rebound as the effects of the recession on student retention finally start to diminish.
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According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s new Postsecondary Persistence-Retention Snapshot Report, 72.1% of students who started at any school in Fall 2014 continued their degree pursuit at some institution the following year; 60.6% were retained by their starting institution.
- Dr. Doug Shapiro, the center’s executive director, said, “after three consecutive years of improvement, overall persistence and retention rates have now surpassed that of students who entered college in fall 2009, suggesting that some of the strain placed on students and colleges during the recession has been lessened.”
Dive Insight:
Students aged 20-24 persisted at the highest rates, which could support recent rhetoric around the benefits of gap years. Students who delay enrollment may better understand the importance of persisting, and may have additional life experiences to drive that persistence. The report speculates similar upward trends in six-year graduation reports for slightly older students, once that data becomes available.
However, the report found this group had “the highest spread between persistence and retention rates,” with one in seven students enrolling at a different institution their second year. This could suggest institutions still need to work to strengthen their support services and attention to retaining non-traditional students.