Freshman to Sophomore Retention Rates Why is this important? This measures the rate at which entering freshmen in a fall semester enroll the following fall semester. It includes only students who begin full- time in associate and baccalaureate programs. What are the policy implications? Students are more likely to drop out of postsecondary education during the first year than any other time. If a state can implement policies that help to increase retention rates either within institutions or through transfer, the likelihood of students persisting to graduation is far greater. Other factors to consider:
Graduation Rates First year retention is associated with many factors (e.g. high school course taking, ACT and SAT scores, socioeconomic background, ethnicity, etc.). While this level of information is not on this site given the lack of data availability across states, it is useful to look within your state to determine these relationships. Data sources and related links: http://www.act.org
