The Graduation and Retention Report

At its February meeting, the Iowa Board of Regents will consider the Fall 2024 Graduation and Retention Report. The report illustrates positive movement for both graduation and retention trends, including the Enterprise’s best-ever four-year graduation rate. 

A university’s graduation rate is the measure of how many students from a selected entering class – or cohort – graduate within a set time frame. Graduation rates are most often measured as four-year or six-year data points, though other time frames are also included. The Fall 2024 report notes that four-year and six-year graduation rates at Iowa’s public universities have steadily increased over the last 20 years and currently are the highest on record. 

Retention rates show the number of students in a cohort who return to school year after year. These rates measure how many first-year students return for their second year, how many second-year students return for their third year, and so on. Retention rates are an important measure of student success. The report notes that 88% of first-year undergraduates returned to school for a second year at Iowa’s public universities. This rate far exceeds the national average (78%).

These metrics combined help illustrate a trend of declining time to degree for Regent university students. Just 42% of Regent graduates who entered school in 1988 finished their degree in four years. This rate has jumped to 76% for the 2018 graduate cohort. Iowa’s public universities offer a number of initiatives to help students graduate on time, including residential communities, peer mentoring, supplemental academic advising, and enhanced orientation programming.

 
Data from the graduation and retention report aids the Board in fostering student success at Iowa’s public universities. Maintaining student success is a top priority as the Board continues its mission to provide quality, affordable higher education for Iowans.