Six-Year Graduation Rates of the Fall 2006 Cohort of First-Time Full-Time Freshmen
Executive Summary
In fall 2006, 846 first-time full-time freshmen entered UMass Boston. By September of 2012,
319 or 37.7% of those entrants had graduated. IPEDS will report this as a rounded 38%. That is
the lowest rate since we reported an IPEDS rounded 33% for the 2002 cohort in 2008. Our 2003
through 2005 cohorts were reported at 39%, 41%, and 40% respectively.
Several areas stand out.
 Men trail women significantly, and the effect crosses all racial/ethnic groups.
 Neither Verbal nor Math SAT scores are significantly related to graduating at UMass
Boston
 High school GPA is positively and significantly related to graduating
 Participation in the Student Support Services program is positively and significantly
related to graduating
 In multivariate analyses, being Hispanic is negatively related to graduating
 Among U.S. residents, immigrants were significantly more likely to graduate than native
citizens
 Students entering the College of Management or the College of Nursing and Health
Sciences were more likely to graduate than students entering the other colleges
No other significant factors were found.
An additional 67 students who had not graduated were enrolled at UMass Boston in fall 2012.
That is a combined graduation/continuation rate of 45.6%.
The National Student Clearinghouse located 49 students from the cohort who definitely received
Bachelor’s degrees from other institutions. It also located another 22 students who may have
received the degree. Others in the cohort may have received a degree from another institution but
not been located by the Clearinghouse.
The forecast for the 2007 cohort is much more positive. It has the highest five-year graduation
rate of any cohort in our past, and there are many non-graduates still enrolled. It is likely that
they will have the highest six-year graduation rate in UMass Boston history.
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General Report
Demographics
Women were significantly more likely to graduate than men by almost 12 percentage points.
There were differences between men and women in every racial/ethnic group although the
differences were statistically significant only for Black non-Hispanics, White non-Hispanics, and
for the group as a whole. The U.S. resident group with the greatest disparity was Black nonHispanics. When Cape Verdeans are excluded from the group, the disparity is even wider at
42.9% for women to only 20% for men. Details are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Differences by Gender within Racial/Ethnic Group
Group
Women
Men
Difference
Significance
Asian P/I
45.1%
34.7%
10.5%
No
Black NH*
41.2%
21.9%
19.3%
P<.05
Hispanic
33.3%
22.6%
10.8%
No
International
63.6%
39.1%
24.5%
No
Unknown/Refused
50.0%
36.0%
14.0%
No
White NH
43.7%
30.9%
12.8%
P<.01
Total
42.8%
30.9%
11.8%
P<.001
*When Cape Verdeans are excluded from the group the difference is significant.
Although there are observable differences between the racial/ethnic groups, the differences are
not statistically significant when only race/ethnicity is considered. In a multivariate analysis
where White non-Hispanic was the base category, Hispanics were significantly less likely to
graduate when all else is equal. The details of race/ethnicity on a standalone basis are presented
in Table 2.
Table 2: Graduation Rates by Racial/Ethnic Group
Group
Number Entered Number Graduated
Asian P/I
Black NH
Hispanic
International
Unknown/Refused
White NH
Total
157
117
97
34
51
388
846
63
42
29
16
22
147
319
Graduation Rate
40.1%
35.9%
29.9%
47.1%
43.1%
37.9%
37.7%
Among U.S. residents, immigrants were much more likely to graduate than were native-born
citizens by 49.6% to 34.9%.
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Academic Preparation Measures
Neither Math nor Verbal SAT scores were significantly related to graduating within six years
when examined alone. Verbal SAT scores were negatively related to graduation in some
multivariate models. A negative relationship between Verbal SAT scores and retention has been
seen in many cohorts. We think the contrary finding is related to immigration and non-native
English speaking status.
High School GPA was significantly related to graduation. Graduates reported high school GPAs
0.26 points higher than non-graduates on average. The significance of high school GPA holds
true in every multivariate analysis we have done.
Support Programs
There were 184 Directions for Student Potential (DSP) graduates in the cohort. Of these, 86
participated in the Student Support Services (SSS) program once they had matriculated. Only
two of the 88 SSS students in the cohort were not participants in DSP.
DSP students graduated at a 39.7% rate compared to 37.2% for non-DSP students. The 2.5 point
difference is 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 (2.84 to 3.03)
 Average Verbal SAT scores 142 points lower than non-DSP (381 to 523)
 Average Math SAT scores 109 points lower than non-DSP (429 to 538)
 A significantly lower proportion of men (29% to 45%)
 A significantly lower proportion of White non-Hispanics (21% to 53%)
 A significantly higher proportion of Asians (31% to 15%)
 A significantly higher proportion of immigrants among the U.S. residents (38.3% to
9.4%).
Within the DSP group, the SSS subgroup was much more successful than those who did not have
the support of the program. The DSP graduates who had the support of the SSS program
graduated at a 52.3% rate compared to the other DSP students who graduated at a 28.6% rate.
The difference is both large and statistically significant. While the rate for non-SSS DSP students
is lower than that for all the non-DSP students by 8.5 points, that difference is not statistically
significant.
There were several significant differences between SSS and non-SSS students within the DSP
group. SSS students had:
 Significantly higher high school GPAs (2.93 to 2.76)
 Significantly lower mean Verbal SAT scores (371 to 390)
 A significantly higher proportion of Asians (41% to 22%)
 A significantly higher proportion of immigrants (55% to 24%)
 A significantly lower proportion of White non-Hispanics (12% to 29%).
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College Entered
Students entering the College of Management or the College of Nursing and Health Sciences
were significantly more likely to graduate than students entering the other colleges. In CNHS all
of the difference is attributable to the Nursing Program where about 61% graduated. Only one
Exercise and Health Sciences major out of 14 entrants graduated. Table 3 presents the details.
Table 3: Graduation Rates by College
College
Number Entered
CPCS
CSM
CLA
MGT
CNHS
Total
Number Graduated
Graduation Rate
2
56
187
45
29
319
18.2%
36.6%
35.0%
51.1%
48.3%
37.7%
11
153
534
88
60
846
Numbers by major were too small to be meaningful, and roughly half of the 2006 entrants were
listed as undecided.
Combining the Factors
We created several multivariate models with graduation within six years as the dependent
variable and variables for age, gender, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, high school GPA, SAT
scores, DSP and SSS participation, and the college entered. In every model, being male was
significantly and negatively associated with graduating, and high school GPA and SSS
participation were significantly and positively associated with graduating. In models where
White non-Hispanic was the base racial/ethnic group, being Hispanic was negatively associated
with graduation.
However, even with all of these elements the model is a poor one because it explains only about
9% of the differences. Most of what influences students to graduate or not graduate from UMass
Boston are not things we currently capture in our data bases.
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 49 members of the cohort who had received bachelor’s degrees at other
institutions and they were reported with degree and major information. An additional 22 students
were listed as graduated from another four-year institution, but without accompanying detail.
Overall, at least 43% to 46% of the students in the original cohort have attained bachelor’s
degrees.
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The NSC also located two students with unspecified certificates at two-year schools, seven with
Associate’s degrees and one who has a Doctor of Pharmacy degree but no bachelor’s degree
noted. Table 4 listing the school, degree and degree majors for those NSC provided detail
information on is presented in the Appendix on page 5. Table 5 with a listing of those reporting
graduates but without details is on page 6.
The Future
The official 2006 cohort graduation rate will be computed and reported in the spring. It may
include a few allowable exclusions, although not enough to raise our rate above an IPEDS
rounded 38%.
Institutional Research has been monitoring the progress of the 2007 cohort of first-time full-time
freshmen that we will report on for graduation by the end of August 2013. While the 2006 cohort
graduation rate has been lower than in the recent past, the 2007 cohort looks much better. As of
now, 332 or 35% have graduated. That is the highest five-year graduation rate we have ever had,
and it is better than the six-year rates for the 2001 and 2002 cohorts. Further, of the 949 who
started, 140 students who have not graduated are enrolled this fall. Usually about 45% to 50% of
those who continue to the sixth year will graduate by the end of the sixth year. That is 63 to 70 of
the continuing students. If that is the case, we’ll have a reportable rate of 42% which would be
our best ever. Further, if we can get as many as 72 additional graduates we can get to a
reportable 43% rate, and 81 would get us to 44% (rounded). Other students who may be eligible
to graduate may have stopped out this semester.
Institutional Research has sent a listing of 113 students should finish this semester with 90 or
more credits to Kathy Teehan, the Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and to Joan
Becker, the Vice Provost for Academic Support Services. While many of the students will
graduate without any intervention, Kathy Teehan and Joan Becker are organizing outreach
efforts to encourage as many of these students as possible to graduate by August 2013. With the
spring semester and potential summer school, an additional number might be able to graduate by
August 2013 if we can offer some encouragement, clear small impediments, etc. For some it may
be as little as encouraging them to get paperwork in on time. To graduate in May or August
2013, applications must be submitted by March 15, 2013.
We will report on the 2008 cohort in two years. Currently that cohort has achieved that highest
unofficial four-year graduation rate in UMass Boston history at 16%, up from about 10% for the
2003 cohort.
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Appendix I. Known Degree Recipients at other Institutions
Table 4: Known Bachelor’s Degrees, by School, Degree, and Major
Granting Institution
Degree
Degree Major
American International College
BS
Biochemistry Major
Arizona State University
BA
Elementary Education
Brandman University
BA
Sociology
Bridgewater State University
BA
English
Bridgewater State University
BS
Criminal Justice
Bryant University
BA
Bus. Admin.: Finance
Colorado State University
BS
Natural Resources
CUNYy Bernard M. Baruch College
BA
Corporate Communication
Curry College
BA
Psychology
Emerson College
BA
Writing, Lit And Publishing
Florida Gulf Coast University
BS
PGA Golf Management
Framingham State University
BA
Sociology
Framingham State University
BA
History
Gordon College
BA
Business Administration
Keene State College
BS
Health Science - Nutrition
Montclair State University
BA
Communication Studies
New York University
BA
Economics
Oakland University
BS
Occupational S. & H.
Park University
BA
Crim Justice/Law Enforce
Plymouth State University
BA
Anthropology/Sociology
Salem State University
BS
Nursing
Suffolk University
BS
Media
Suffolk University
BS
Accounting
Suffolk University
BS
Management
Suffolk University
BS
Soc:Crim&Law
SUNY University at Buffalo
BS
Biomedical Science
University of California - Irvine
BS
Info. & Computer Science
University of Colorado Boulder
BS
Marketing
University of Delaware
BS
Marketing
University of Hawaii at Manoa
BA
Psychology
University of La Verne
BS
Sociology
University of Maryland - College Park
BA
Sociology
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
BS
Resource Economics
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
BA
Anthropology
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
BA
Accounting
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
BS
Mechanical Engineering
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
BS
Psychology
Continued
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Table 4: Known Bachelor’s Degrees, by School, Degree, and Major
Granting Institution
Degree
Degree Major
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
BA
Theater
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
BA
Political Science
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
BS
Mathematics
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
BA
English- Writing, & Comm.
University of Miami
BA
Psychology
University of New Hampshire
BA
History
University of Texas at Dallas
BS
Finance
University of Vermont
BA
English
University of Washington - Seattle
BA
Communication
Westfield State University
BS
Movement Science
Wheelock College
BS
Social Work
William Paterson University of N.J.
BS
Physical Education
Total Known Bachelor's Recipients
49
Besides the 49 students the NSC reports degree details for, an additional 22 students are listed as
graduating from four-year institutions without any additional detail. These students could have
graduated with credentials varying from undergraduate certificates to doctorates. The colleges
listing the graduates are detailed in Table 5, which follows.
Table 5: Institutions Reporting Graduating Students but without Details
Institution Name
Number of Reported Graduates
Assumption College
1
Bay State College
2
Becker College
1
Caritas Laboure College
1
Emmanuel College
2
Framingham State University
1
ITT Technical Institute
1
Massachusetts College of Art
2
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
1
Northeastern University
5
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
1
University of Massachusetts at Lowell
4
Total
22
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