retention

    A Michigan State University paper has taken the internet and other media by storm today by laying out the statistical case that gym attendance can boost a college GPA for freshmen and sophomores. 

  image by flickr user lee morley, cc license For every two years of college, 1.7% of students can expect a parent to pass away. This statistic, from Balk, Walker and Baker's "Prevalence And Severity Of College Student Bereavement Examined In A Randomly Selected Sample," shows how common parent death is among college students. In numbers alone, 1.7% of students translates to roughly 360,000 college students in the U.S. over a two-year period.  Compounding this astounding rate of loss and heartbreak is the fact that losing a parent can effect educational attainment. 

  screenshot of gradnation.org/report/dont-call-them-dropouts Yesterday, America’s Promise Alliance and its Center for Promise at Tufts University released Don't Call Them Dropouts. This report discusses recent research that was tasked with understanding the experiences of young people who leave high school before graduation. This report emphasizes the resilience of students in the face of experiences that interrupt and challenge their access to education. Usually, College Parents of America doesn't discuss reports on high school students or their high school graduation rates. However, in reviewing this report, we've found that many of the challenges that high school students say interrupted their education have also been known to interrupt college education.

  (photo by flickr user Sean MacEntee)For families seeking to maximize their investment in college, it is wise to compare completion and retention rates for potential schools. Two recent U.S. News and World Report posts reflect upon important aspects of student progress toward completion: freshman retention rate and 4-year graduation rate.