Graduation Rates And the Importance
of
DATA
Cos Brown
September 13, 2010
Vince Lombardi Quote on the
Use of Data
The legendary former coach of the Green
Bay Packers Football Team is quoted
as saying,
“If you don’t keep score, then you are
just practicing”
Motivational Comparison
6-Yr Grad Rate by Race and Gender (2008)*
60
53%
50
37%
40
CSUDH
30
25%
23%
CSULA
18%
20
9%
10
0
UMF
UMM
BF
BM
*http://www.collegeresults.org
LF
LM
WF
WM
Learning From Prior Successes
(Northridge Slide)
6-Year FTF Graduation Rates
How did this happen?
CSU Comparisons*
CSU
Fullerton
2008
6- Yr.
Grad
Rate
% Pell
Recipients
Among
Freshman
%
URM
Estimated
Size
Median
Undergraduate
SAT/ACT
FTE
49.00
29.00
34.10
980
25,733
Northridge 41.10
42.00
39.00
930
24,549
Dom. Hills 34.00
61.00%
69.30
815
6,589
55.00
54.30
880
13,245
CSULA
30.60
*http://www.collegeresults.org
CSU Comparisons-Freshmen*
CSU
(Regular
Admits)
Needing
Needing
Remediation Remediation
in
In
Mathematics
English
Mean High
School GPA
Dom. Hills
79.9%
86.2%
3.02
CSULA
68.5%
80.1%
3.14
*http://www.asd.calstate.edu/remediation/09/index.shtml
Obama aims to lift college graduation
rates, but his tools are few…*
President Obama on Monday stated a
US goal of retaking the world lead in
college graduation rates by 2020.
*From Christian Science Monitor August 9, 2010 University of
Texas Austin
Count Students One-by-One
(CSULA good stories)
1. Avery August
2. Luis P. Villarreal
3. Averess Rickerson
4. Randolph Cooper
Count Students One-by-One
(CSULA good stories)
Avery August, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Immunology
Penn State University
Luis P. Villarreal
Professor, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Director, Center for Virus Research, Center for Virus
Research, U. C. Irvine
Institutions with Smallest White-Black
Graduation Rate Gaps-Public Institutions
White GR Black GR White%
Institution Median Undergrad
Enrollment Black (3 yr Ave- (3 yr AveSAT/
Black Gap
(FTE)
2006-08)
2006-08)
Fall ‘07
ACT
Score
UNC-
1040 12,681
20.8
50.7
55.5
-4.8
1055 15,750
13.8
50.1
50.1
0
1040 14,693
7.4
62.4
66.9
-4.5
1085 16,349
30.2
41.6
46.9
-5.3
Greensboro
UNCCharlotte
UC
Riverside
Georgia
State
Institutions with Smallest White-Hispanic
Graduation Rate Gaps-Public Institutions
White GR Latino GR White%
Institution Median Undergrad
Enrollment Latino (3 yr Ave- (3 yr AveSAT/
Latino Gap
(FTE)
2006-08)
2006-08)
Fall ‘07
ACT
Score
FIU (Florida) 1100 23,174
62.9
45.2
50.7
-5.5
UNC-
1055 15,750
3.7
50.1
54.3
-4.2
1040 14,693
25.7
62.4
63.4
-1.0
1073 1,244
30.2
55.9
60.4
-4.5
Charlotte
UC
Riverside
Whittier
College
How Folks Have Done It….*
Georgia State University—a research
university in downtown Atlanta—boosted its
minority graduation rate by 18.4 percentage
points. In 2002, only 32.3 percent of minority
students graduated in six years. By 2007, that
rate had increased to 50.7 percent—which
exceeds the school’s non-minority graduation
rate of 45.5 percent
*Education Trust (http://www.edtrust.org)
How Folks Have Done It….*
when administrators disaggregated the data, they found

First-year learning communities—where faculty
members coordinate teaching two or more courses
and often serve as advisors to the same group of
students—were instrumental in improving retention
rates between the freshman and sophomore years by
five to six percentage points for all students. But for
minority students, these rates rose by ten to 12
percentage points
*Education Trust (http://www.edtrust.org)
Other Folks Have Done It*….

At Loyola Marymount, for example, the institution
examined the data and found that students who have
a history of dropping one or two classes each
semester are highly likely to quit school.

At Winthrop College (South Carolina), One program
includes an early alert system, in which faculty
members notify the University College of students
who are struggling academically. The college then
works with each student’s advisor and resident
assistant to provide the student with intrusive
counseling.
*Education Trust (http://www.edtrust.org)
What Seemed to Work Best at UC
Riverside*….

Programming at the college level, focus on data
throughout the institution, and strong campus
leadership

Each college: 1) tracks student data; 2) designs
learning communities, and 3) advises students, and
links them to support services.

“An unusually robust relationship between academic affairs
and student services”
*Education Trust (http://www.edtrust.org)
What Seemed to Work Best at UC
Riverside*….

According to Provost Dallas Rabenstein. “When we
admit students, we feel an ethical obligation to do
what is necessary for them to succeed,” he says. To
ensure this success, university leaders base their
decisions on data.
They track student data and use it in an “ongoing
feedback loop so empirical lessons are used to
improve strategies,
*Education Trust (http://www.edtrust.org)

Summary of Things that Work*
1.
2.
3.
Designated faculty or staff members as “first
responders” to students’ needs, helping students
navigate these large, complex institutions.
Relatively high levels of student involvement and
engagement in campus activities and programs,
which personalize the college experience for
students.
Well-developed first-year programs, such as
freshman orientation programs, freshman success
courses, freshman interest groups, and first-year
learning communities, in which student participation
is mandatory or high.
* http://www.pellinstitute.org/files/files-demography_is_not_destiny.pdf
Summary of Things that Work*
4.
5.
6.
Efforts to improve instruction in “gatekeeping”
introductory courses, particularly in mathematics,
such as reducing class sizes or keeping class sizes
“small” through supplemental instruction.
Early warning and advising systems in place to
monitor student progress and to intervene when
student performance is low.
Ample academic and social support services,
which are well-utilized by students due to proactive
efforts to coordinate services with advising systems,
to advertise services widely, and to train faculty and
staff about available services.
*http://www.pellinstitute.org/files/filesdemography_is_not_destiny.pdf
Summary of Things that Work*
7.
8.
9.
Special programs for at-risk student populations that
incorporate many of the “best practices” in the retention
literature.
Strong leadership from top administrators who create an
institutional culture that promotes student success by using
rhetoric that demonstrates their commitment to retention,
providing adequate resources to fund programs, and offering
rewards to faculty and staff for getting involved in retention
efforts.
A central person, office, or committee that coordinates
undergraduate education and/or retention activities across
academic and student affairs staff and programs in order to
foster collaboration.
*http://www.pellinstitute.org/files/files-demography_is_not_destiny.pdf
Suggestions

Students are “resources”. Every College
has a Resource Manager. Why not
have resource managers also provide
college/department retention and
graduation data.
Average Total Enrollments: FTF
and TRF (2004-2008)
531
339
Average 1 Yr. Retention First-Time
Freshmen: Latino Males-5 yr Avg. (2004-09)
Average 1 Yr. Ret. Transfer Latino
Males (5 yrs)
76%
75%
74%
76%
Average 1 Yr. Retention First Time Freshmen: AA Males
(5 yr. Avg.)
13
7
HHS: AA BS Majors by Gender
400
350
300
250
F
M
200
150
100
50
FALL2005
FALL2006
FALL2007
FALL2008
FALL2009
NSS: Latino/a BS Majors by
Gender
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
F
M
600
400
200
FALL2005
FALL2006
FALL2007
FALL2008
FALL2009
Average 1 Yr. Ret. Transfer:
AAM (5 yr. Avg.)
63%
57%
56%
71%
Variables Kept (from Mark)
High School
GPA
SAT/ACT
Score
ELM Status
EPT Status
Mother’s
Education
Level
Father’s
Education
Level
Dependent
Income
Level
EOP Status
IHE First
Quarter
Regular vs.
Special
Admit
Eligibility
Index
Number
Two Year Retention Pattern
(from Mark)
100%
Starting Cohort
After 1 year
After 2 years
72.3%
81.3%
27.7%
18.7%
10.6%
Retained
Not
Retained
89.4%
MANY THANKS
To: Mark Robinson and Jen Chen in IR
who I continue to bug daily…
and to the
administrators and faculty who I
dragged into my office for numerous
discussions and feedback on this topic.