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RETENTION AND GRADUATION RATES BY PROGRAM
These data are provided for campus use only, during the program review
and accreditation processes.
Use discretion when interpreting these data for off-campus uses.
Definitions provided below are intended to guide you through these processes,
but if you have questions regarding student's right to privacy or the legitimate
use of university data,
please contact IP&A at 756-2204.
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College
of Architecture: College
of Business: College
of Engineering: College
of Liberal Arts: College
of Science and Mathematics:
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Undergraduate Cohort Data: Cohorts are selected based on a student’s entering class level and enrollment status. The study currently includes cohorts entering Cal Poly in Summer/Fall 1990 through Summer/Fall 2001.
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First-time freshmen cohort: First-time college students entering Cal Poly during the Summer or Fall quarter and enrolled in 12 or more units during the student’s first Fall quarter at Cal Poly.
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Lower and Upper division transfer cohort: Students entering Cal Poly with college transfer units during the Summer or Fall quarter and enrolled in 12 or more units during the student’s first Fall quarter at Cal Poly. Lower and upper division transfers are defined by their status at the time of admission.
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Retention Rate: Retention rate is calculated for each subsequent Fall only. Students who ‘stop out’ then return are counted in the Fall they return as being retained in their initial cohort.
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Graduation Rate: Graduation rate is calculated on degrees awarded through Summer quarter.
Identifiable Data and Student Confidentiality Issues: Enrollment groupings of five (5) or fewer students (for example, five or fewer students in a particular ethnic or age grouping), are considered “identifiable” and should be replaced with an asterisk (*) when data are provided to anyone outside of your department. You may wish to follow the IP&A and U.S. Census practice and use the notation, “Detailed data are not reported, but are included in the totals,” or “due to privacy concerns, categories of five or fewer are not disclosed.”
Real Numbers or Percentages: Total enrollment in some categories may be small, therefore, calculated ratios and percentages can vary greatly from one time period to another. Use ratios based on small numbers cautiously when analyzing trends or creating projections for your individual department or discipline. When possible, consider using real numbers instead of ratios, and always show the size of the group in any tables.
Aggregate Data: IP&A's role is to extract, aggregate, analyze, report, and plan. With respect to enrollment, human resources, and space data, IP&A is primarily an interpretive and analytical "user" of aggregate rather than transactional data. Thus, our staff depends on other campus offices for data entry and accuracy, so that IP&A can focus on how data should be aggregated, compared, and interpreted across transactions and across functions -- and how this information can assist the University with future planning and resource management. In other words, IP&A does not work with data at the individual level or provide lists!
IP&A provides aggregate information in two ways. The first involves the development of analytical reports, which may be published in print or electronic form, at designated intervals (e.g., quarterly) or upon request by the Office's constituents. The second involves enabling campus users to conduct their own analysis. Thus, we help make data sources available electronically, along with information delivery tools, so that users can design queries that meet their particular needs.
Fall to Fall Comparison: IP&A’s standard practice is to provide Fall quarter data when looking for trends or making comparisons between years. Cal Poly enrolls the most students (including the highest number of new students) during Fall quarter.
