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University of Minnesota, Morris
Morris, MN 56267

Retention Among Students of Color at UMM:
the 2008 Retention and Graduation Rates

The 2008 student retention report on graduation and retention rates by race/ethnicity for first-time, full-time new entering freshmen from the University of Minnesota Office of Institutional Research allows for the calculation of retention and graduation rates for UMM students of color (SOC) who entered as freshmen in successive years. The system allows tracking of the percent who return in the subsequent year at UMM, including those who transfer to a different campus within the University system. The attached Table 1 shows the rates for SOC freshman cohorts entering from 1993 through 2007. This table indicates the percent who returned for their sophomore year, their junior year, and their senior year; then shows the percent to graduate in four, five, and six years, and “to date” which is either the seven- or eight-year graduation figure. For comparison, Table 2 shows the same data for the UMM student body as a whole--including the students of color.

Because there are relatively small numbers of students of color in each class, the most reliable retention and graduation rates for UMM's SOC population probably come from the averaging of the data for the most recent three entering cohorts. Considering those figures, the SOC freshman-to-sophomore retention rate within the University is 82%; freshman-to-junior retention is 68%; freshman-to-senior retention is 64%. The four-year graduation rate for students of color is 29%; however, the six-year graduation rate is 47%.

While the SOC retention and graduation rates are not as high as those for the student body as a whole, the three-year average rate for SOC freshman-to- sophomore retention at 82% is only slightly lower than the overall campus retention rate of 85%. However, the gap of 16% between the average SOC six-year graduation rate of 47% and the average six-year graduation rate of 63% for the student body as a whole is a major concern for the Morris campus.

The attached chart shows SOC retention rates compared to those for the UMM student body as a whole for students who entered UMM as freshmen and remained or graduated from any campus within the University of Minnesota system.

Nancy Helsper
UMM Institutional Research