The Six-Year Graduation Rate of the Fall 2007 Cohort of First-Time Full-Time Freshmen
Executive Summary
In fall 2007, 949 first-time full-time freshmen entered UMass Boston. By September of 2013,
414 or 43.6% of those entrants had graduated. IPEDS will report this as a rounded 44%. This is
the highest six-year graduation rate that UMass Boston has ever had, and is six percentage points
higher than we reported for the 2006 cohort last year. Our previous best was 40.9% (reported as
41% by IPEDS) for the 2004 cohort.
An additional 53 students from the 2007 cohort were actively enrolled at UMass Boston in fall
2013. That is a combined graduation/continuation rate of 49.3%.
Using National Student Clearinghouse data, we located 95 students who had graduated from
other four-year schools, including 17 who graduated from UMass Amherst and 7 who graduated
from UMass Lowell. An additional 226 had enrolled at another school after leaving UMass
Boston and prior to fall 2013. Based on these findings, we will be reporting a transfer out rate of
34% to IPEDS.
Several areas stand out:
 Among U.S. residents, Pell Grant recipients (354 of 903) were more likely to graduate at
45.5% compared to 42.1% for non-Pell recipients, but the difference was not statistically
significant
 Among U.S. residents, immigrants (144 of 903) were significantly more likely to
graduate at 63.2% to 39.7%
 Boston Public School (BPS) students in the cohort graduated at a 37.6% rate, 6.9 points
lower than all other students, but the difference was not statistically significant.
 In multivariate analyses, neither Critical Reading nor Math SAT scores were related to
graduating
 High school GPA was always significantly related to graduating
 Women were more likely to graduate than men at 46.1% to 40.2%, but that difference
was only significant at a low level.
 Asians were significantly more likely to graduate than any other group
 For the first time, all of the larger racial/ethnic groups had rates of 40% or higher.
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General Report
Demographics
Women were about 6 percentage points more likely than men to have graduated by fall 2013, but
that difference was statistically significant only at a low level. We found that while women
tended to be more likely to graduate within each racial/ethnic group, the difference was
significant only for the group who did not identify a group. The gap between men and women
narrowed from11.8% for the 2006 cohort to 5.9% for the 2007 cohort. Both women and men
improved over the 2006 cohort with women increasing from 42.8% to 46.1% and men improving
from 30.9% to 40.2%. The previous high for men was 34% for the 2003 cohort.
Table1: Differences by Gender within Racial/Ethnic Group
Group
Women
Men
Difference
Asian P/I
58.2%
52.0%
6.2%
Black NH
40.8%
39.6%
1.3%
Hispanic
45.5%
28.9%
16.5%
International
45.0%
36.8%
8.2%
Native American
20.0%
0.0%
20.0%
Unknown/Refused
40.4%
17.2%
23.1%
White NH
45.1%
42.0%
3.2%
Total
46.1%
40.2%
5.9%
*One tailed test
Significance
No
No
No
No
No
P<.05
No
P<.05*
In the fall 2007 cohort, Asians, Black non-Hispanics, Hispanics, and White non-Hispanics all
improved their graduation rates over the comparable groups in the 2006 cohort. Asians improved
by over 15 percentage points, and the rate for Asians was significantly higher than for all of the
non-Asian students. Asians graduated at a rate of 55.4%. Black non-Hispanics, Hispanics, and
White non-Hispanics all had rates of 40% or higher. That is the first time all three groups have
reached that level in the same cohort. The details are provided in Table 2.
Table 2: Graduation Rates by Racial/Ethnic Group
Group
Entered Fall 2007
Graduated by Fall 2013
Asian P/I
166
92
Black NH
119
48
Hispanic
115
46
International
39
16
Native American
6
1
Unknown/Refused
86
28
White NH
418
183
Total
949
414
Graduation Rate
55.4%
40.3%
40.0%
41.0%
16.7%
32.6%
43.8%
43.6%
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Among U.S. residents, immigrants were significantly more likely to graduate than were nativeborn citizens at 63.2% to 34.9%.
There were 125 students from Boston Public Schools (BPS) in the cohort. They graduated at a
37.6% rate, 6.9 points lower than all other students, but the difference was not statistically
significant. About 9% of the BPS students were still enrolled at UMass Boston in fall 2013
compared to about 5% of all other students
Academic Preparation Measures
Critical Reading SAT scores (Verbal) were negatively associated with graduating. Those who
graduated averaged more than 12 points lower than those who did not graduate (486 to 498).
However, we believe that is related to the previous point that immigrants graduate at a higher
rate. When the variable for immigrant status is introduced into a multivariate model, the Verbal
SAT score becomes insignificant. Math SAT scores had no relationship to graduating in any
model.
High school GPA was positively and significantly related to graduating. Graduates averaged
about 0.16 points higher on high school GPA than did those who did not complete. The effect of
high school GPA was even more pronounced when looking at the four-year graduation rate with
graduates averaging 0.22 points higher than those who did not graduate within four years.
Support Programs
There were 182 Directions for Student Potential (DSP) graduates in the cohort. Of these, some
number participated in the Student Support Services (SSS) program once they had matriculated.
While SSS students usually graduate at a higher rate, we were unable to identify the SSS
participants in this cohort, so we cannot supply a separate graduation rate for them.
DSP students graduated at a 48.4% rate compared to 42.5% for non-DSP students. The 5.8 point
difference was not statistically significant. DSP graduates differed from the non-DSP students on
a number of measures. DSP graduates had:
 Significantly lower high school GPAs than non-DSP (2.92 to 3.09)
 Average Verbal SAT scores 132 points lower than non-DSP (387 to 520)
 Average Math SAT scores 112 points lower than non-DSP (421 to 533)
 A significantly lower proportion of men (29% to 44%)
 A significantly lower proportion of White non-Hispanics (20% to 50%)
 A significantly higher proportion of Asians (31% to 14%)
 A significantly higher proportion of Black non-Hispanics (17% to 10%)
 A significantly higher proportion of Hispanics (17% to 11%)
 A significantly higher proportion of immigrants among the U.S. residents (32% to 12%).
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College Entered
Students entering the College of Management (MGT) or the College of Nursing and Health
Sciences (CNHS) were significantly more likely to graduate than students entering the College
of Liberal Arts (CLA) or the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM). In CNHS, all of the
difference is attributable to the Nursing Program where about 67% graduated. Slightly less than
40% of Exercise and Health Sciences majors graduated. Students are counted as graduated
regardless of their entry college and major and their graduating college and major. An incoming
Physics major who graduates with a degree in Art counts as graduated with CSM as the entry
college. Table 3 presents the details.
Table 3: Graduation Rates by Entry College
College
Entered Fall 2007
Graduated by Fall 2013
CPCS
12
3
CSM
185
74
CLA
582
241
MGT
83
47
CNHS
87
49
Total
949
414
Graduation Rate
25.0%
40.0%
41.4%
56.6%
56.3%
43.6%
Within CNHS
Entered Fall 2007
Graduation Rate
EHS-BS
NURSING-BS
33
54
Graduated by Fall
2013
13
36
39.4%
66.7%
Combining the Factors
When we constructed several multivariate models that included age, gender, high school GPA,
SAT scores, immigrant status, and racial/ethnic group dummy variables with White nonHispanic as the base group, the only variables showing a statistically significant relationship to
graduating within 6 years were high school GPA and being an immigrant.
Success Elsewhere
We used the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to look for members of the cohort who may
have graduated elsewhere. NSC data is often incomplete because of limits on search parameters
and because member institutions often do not submit complete data.
However, the NSC found 87 members of the cohort who had received bachelor’s degrees at other
institutions and were reported with degree and major information. An additional 8 students were
listed as graduated from another four-year institution, but without accompanying detail. Of these
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95 students, 17 received a bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst and 7 received one from
UMass Lowell. Overall, between UMass Boston and the NSC data we can identify 53% of the
students in the original cohort as having a graduated from a four-year institution. Two other
students received non-Bachelor’s credentials from four-year schools, and 30 others received a
credential from a two-year school.
The current status of the students in the cohort based on UMass Boston records and the NSC
records is presented in Table4, below. Each student has a single status. The hierarchy is UMass
Boston Graduate, other 4-year school graduate, currently enrolled at UMass Boston, other
credential from a 4-year school, credential from a two-year school, transferred to either a twoyear or four-year school without attaining a credential, and not currently enrolled at UMass
Boston and with no record outside of UMass Boston found in the NSC files.
Table 4: Current Educational Status of the Fall 2007 Cohort
Status as of Fall 2013
Number of Students
UMass Boston Graduate
414
Graduated Other 4-Year School
95
Enrolled UMass Boston
53
Other 4-Year Credential
2
Credential from a 2-Year School
30
Transferred Out/No Credential Listed
194
Not Enrolled/No Other Attendance Found
161
Total
949
Percent
43.6%
10.0%
5.6%
0.2%
3.2%
20.4%
17.0%
100.0%
Next year, we will report a six-year graduation rate for the 2008 cohort of first-time full-time
freshman. They had a similar five-year graduation rate as the fall 2007 cohort in this report, but
the continuation to the sixth year rate was slightly lower than for this cohort.
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Appendix I: Known Degree Recipients from other Four-Year Institutions
Table 4: Known Four-Year Graduates, by School, Degree Title, and Major
Four-Year College Name
Degree Title
Degree Major
Bay State College
Not Specified
Not Specified
Bay State College
Not Specified
Not Specified
Bentley University
Bachelor of Science
Corp. Finance &
Accounting
Berklee College of Music
Not Specified
Not Specified
Boston College
Bachelor of Science
Nursing
Boston University
Bachelor of Arts
International Relations
Bridgewater State University
Bachelor of Science
Chemistry
Bridgewater State University
Bachelor of Arts
History
Castleton State College
Bachelor of Arts
Criminal Justice
Charter Oak State College
Bachelor of Arts
General Studies
College of Charleston
Bachelor of Science
International Business
Eastern Connecticut State University
Bachelor of General
General Studies
Studies
Eastern Connecticut State University
Bachelor of Arts
Political Science
Emerson College
Bachelor of Science
Print & Multimedia
Journalism
Fitchburg State University
Bachelor of Science
Criminal Justice
Fitchburg State University
Bachelor of Science
Exercise And Sports
Science
Florida Atlantic University
Bachelor of Business
Hospitality Management
Admin.
Framingham State University
Bachelor of Arts
Communication Arts
Georgia State University
Bachelor of Business
Marketing
Admin.
Iowa State University
B.S.
Business - Accounting
Iowa State University
B.S.
Business - Finance
ITT Technical Institute
Not Specified
Not Specified
Johnson & Wales University
Bachelor of Science
Accounting
Kaplan University
Bachelor of Science
Criminal Justice
Keene State College
Bachelor of Music
Music Education Liberty University
Bachelor of Science
Kinesiology: Teacher Cert
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Bachelor of Arts
Sociology
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
B. S. In Nursing
Nursing
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
Bachelor of Science
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Mount Ida College
Bachelor of Arts
English
New England Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Science
Architectural Bldg
Continued
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Table 4: Known Four-Year Graduates, by School, Degree Title, and Major
Four-Year College Name
Degree Title
Degree Major
New York University
Bachelor of Science
Childhood Ed/Childhood
Special
New York University
Bachelor of Arts
Economics
Northeastern University
Not Specified
Not Specified
Northeastern University
Not Specified
Not Specified
Northern Michigan University
Bachelor of Science Nursing
Nursing
Plymouth State University
Bachelor of Science
Business Administration
Plymouth State University
Bachelor of Arts
Criminal Justice
Salem State University
Bachelor of Science Bus
Business Administration
Admin
Salem State University
Bachelor of Science
Communications
Salem State University
Bachelor of Science
Communications
Salem State University
Bachelor of Science
Geography
Salem State University
Bachelor of Arts
History
Salus University
Not Specified
Not Specified
Simmons College
Bachelor of Arts
Psychology
Southern Connecticut State University
Bachelor of Science
Business Administration
Springfield College
Bachelor of Science
Human Services
Springfield College
Bachelor of Science
Movement And Sport Stud
Suffolk University
Bachelor of Arts
European History
Suffolk University
BS In Business Admin
Management
Suffolk University
BS In Business Admin
Management
Suffolk University
Bachelor of Arts
Public Relations
SUNY College - Cortland
Bachelor of Arts
Communication Studies
SUNY College Oneonta
Bachelor of Science
Philosophy
SUNY College Potsdam
Bachelor of Arts
Literature/Writing Major
Temple University
Bachelor of Business
Accounting
Administration
University of Arizona
Bachelor of Science In
Business Economics
Business Administration
University of Connecticut
Bachelor of Arts
Economics
University of Connecticut
Bachelor of Arts
English
University of Connecticut
Bachelor of Arts
History
University of Connecticut
Bachelor of Arts
Human Dev & Family
Studies
University of Houston
Bachelor of Business Adm Accounting
University of Illinois @ Urbana
BS Liberal Arts And
Psychology
Science
Continued
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Table 4: Known Four-Year Graduates, by School, Degree Title, and Major
Four-Year College Name
Degree Title
Degree Major
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Science
Biochem. & Molecular
Biol.
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Science
Biology
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Science
Biology
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Science
Biology
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Arts
Communication
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Arts
Communication
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Arts
English
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Business
Finance & Operations
Admin.
Mgmt
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Arts
History
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Science
Hospitality & Tourism
Mgmt
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Arts
Individual Concentration
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Science
Kinesiology
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Science
Kinesiology
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Arts
Linguistics
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Arts
Political Science
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Arts
Sociology
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Science In
Civil Engineering
Engineering
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Science In
Civil Engineering
Engineering
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Science In
Computer Engineering
Engineering
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Science In
Electrical Engineering
Engineering
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Science
Nursing
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Arts
Philosophy
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Arts
Psychology
University of North Dakota
BA
Psycho
University of San Diego
Bachelor of Business
Marketing
Admin
Washington State University
Bachelor of Arts In History History
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Science
Civil Engineering
Technology
Westfield State University
Bachelor of Science
Biology
Westfield State University
Bachelor of Arts
History
Worcester State University
Bachelor of Science
Business Admin
Worcester State University
Bachelor of Arts
Communication
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