Student Retention
More than 40 percent of students graduate from Utah State University, while other universities in Utah report a 66 percent graduation rate, said Grayson Osborne, coordinator of university assessment.
Graduation rates are just one part of student retention – the focus of much discussion at Utah State University.
Retention is one of the seven goals President Kermit L. Hall spoke about in his State of the University Address on Sept. 28.
Since the school year began, a group of about seven individuals has been meeting every Wednesday afternoon to discuss how to retain first-time, full-time freshmen, said Patricia Terrell, vice president for Student Services.
The goal of this group is to increase retention and graduation rates, Terrell said. Terrell is also involved in discussing plans to improve retention.
USU ranks low on retention and graduation rates when compared to other schools in its tier, Osborne said.
USU has a 66 percent first-year retention rate, compared to 89 percent at BYU and 72 percent at the University of Utah, said Jeane Vinsonhaler, planning and analysis director.
“Second year retention is not as good as our peer group,” he said.
University officials said there are many factors which contribute to a student’s inability to return to the university, including; marital status, finance, the likelihood of serving a church mission, and the relation between ACT scores, high school GPA and first semester GPA at USU.
Some ideas have been discussed which may help in solving this problem.
One idea from the Provost’s Office is to implement a tuition payment plan for those students who are struggling financially, said Fred Hunsaker, vice president for administrative services.
“So many students come as single students, during their years at USU they get married and have children,” Hunsaker said. “That’s why we are looking to give them an option to offset changing financial responsibilities.”
The plan’s intent is to more evenly match working students’ income with the demands of paying tuition.
Hunsaker said he is working to help students have more options and this is the only thing he is involved with, relating to retention.
Some students may only come to USU for a year before deciding to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or another church, Osborne said. This factor, combined with lower ACT and GPA scores, leads to students dropping out as well.
Osborne said there is an obvious relationship between test scores and grade point averages.
“The lower the scores, the more likely the student to drop out,” he said.
“The entire university is examining the possibility of raising entry requirements,” Osborne said.
If the requirements were raised, there is a chance students will come here more equipped and prepared to succeed, Osborne said.
Osborne said that until these plans are implemented, the university is trying to help students be more committed to their studies. First, students should become associated with those who are already succeeding. Next, he said, the university’s faculty and staff have the students’ interests at heart. Also, the university is working to provide more scholarships and financial support to those students who are in need of it. Finally, Osborne said the university is working on improving the campus environment.
Terrell said these suggestions are important to playing a role of whether or not a student will remain at the university.
She said living on campus helps students feel more connected to the school. The university also has new floors which are dedicated to certain types of studies. Those living conditions are particularly conducive to helping students stay at USU, she said.
Other factors which contribute to retention are students’ involvement in extracurricular activities or if they are the first person in their family to go to college, Terrell said.
“If the student is a first generation college student as opposed to a legacy of college students,” they are more likely to be retained, she said.