U of A Graduation Rate Expected to Set Records, Despite One-Year Anomaly

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Office for Institutional Research has posted its latest report on the graduation and retention rates for undergraduate students at the university. The report is available online.

The six-year graduation rate for the group of first-time, full-time, degree-seeking freshman who entered the U of A in 2011 is 61.5 percent, a drop from 64.5 percent for the 2010 group.

“This drop in the graduation rate was not a surprise but is unfortunate,” said Jim Coleman, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. “It was not a surprise only in that we were aware of anomalous reductions that occurred in the retention of the 2011 cohort, particularly between their second and third year, and between their third and fourth years relative to other cohorts.

“We don’t know for sure what caused the reductions for the 2011 cohort, but it does appear to be an anomaly relative to more recent cohorts. For example, the third- to fourth-year retentions of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 cohorts are 3.0 percent, 3.2 percent and 4.8 percent higher, respectively, than they were for the 2011 cohort. So, it appears that not only was the drop an anomaly, but that efforts taken to improve graduation success have been working. And, with our continued building on these efforts, we are looking forward to new record graduation rates in the future.”

An example of this success is the five-year graduation rate for the students who enrolled in 2012, a record 62.9 percent, which guarantees the six-year rate will be an improvement from those who enrolled in 2011. Also, over the past few years there has been a 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent increase from the five-year to the six-year graduation rate for a cohort. If similar increases occur between the five-year and six-year graduation rate for the 2012 cohort, then we would surpass the 64.5 percent record.  

The same holds true for the four-year graduation rate by students who enrolled in 2013, again with a record rate of 48.5 percent. That’s more than six points higher than the 2011 or 2010 groups. Before 2010 the U of A four-year graduation rate was regularly below 40 percent.

The positive trend continues when looking at the students who have been on campus for fewer than four years:

• The three-year retention rate for the group that enrolled in 2014 is a record 73.4 percent. 
• The two-year retention rate for the 2015 group is a record 76.9 percent.

“These numbers are encouraging, but we can and must do better,” Coleman said. “The one-year retention rate for the 2016 cohort dropped slightly from last year, so we can see that more needs to be done.

“That is why we are refocusing our efforts to support the success of each student, one student at a time, to more seamlessly shepherd students from high school, through their transition to the university, through to on-time graduation and then on to their post-graduation careers or graduate education. This requires us to better integrate the support we provide for students in their academic success, financial stability, their sense of belonging and engagement with the university community and their health and wellness.

“Student success is at the top of our guiding priorities and our academic strategic plan, so we are expecting our actions to lead to increasing graduation rates for our current and future cohorts,” Coleman said.