by our College Data Analytics TeamMake an informed decision about your education by understanding how C of C's retention and graduation rates impact you. First year retention rates let you know how many students come back for their sophomore year. Graduation rates tell you how long it takes to complete a degree at C of C . Remember, every extra semester it takes to graduate will increase the cost of your degree.
With 79.0% of students making it past their freshman year, College of Charleston has freshman retention rates above the national average.
Nationwide, the average first year to second year retention rate is 69.0% . When looking at just colleges and universities in South Carolina , the average is 61.0% .
At C of C , there were 3,413 bachelors degree candidates in the class of 2016 . By 2018 , six years after beginning their degree, 66.4% of these students had graduated. After an additional two years, 67.3% of this class eventually completed their degree.
We consider the "on-time" graduation rate for a bachelor's degree to be four years, but colleges typically report their graduation rates after six or even eight years.
This implies that 32.7% did not graduate within eight years. Of these 1,117 students, 13 were still working towards their degree, 845 had transferred to a different institution, and C of C lost contact with the remaining 258 whom we assume dropped out.
First-time, full-time students under the age of 25 are much more likely to graduate in four years (on-time). Some schools cater mostly to traditional students while others cater to “non-traditional” students who may be attending part time and thus are likely to take longer to graduate.
Comparing the graduation rates of specific cohorts shown below will be more revealing than the overall statistics shared above.
With a four year graduation rate of 56.0% , first-time students in the C of C class of 2016 who attended classes full-time were more likely than average to graduate on time. After six years, the graduation rate was 69.1% and by 2020 ,69.9% of this class had completed their degree.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for first-time undergraduates attending classes full-time is: 35.8% after four years, 46.4% after six years, and 47.8% after eight years.
Studies have shown that high-achieving students are more likely to complete their degree on time. Given the academic preparedness of the first-time / full-time students accepted to C of C , we expected that after six years about 67.2% of them would have completed their undergraduate degree.
Of these 706 students, 7 were still working towards their degree, 575 had transferred to a different institution, and C of C lost contact with the remaining 124 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 20.0% , first-time students in the C of C class of 2016 who attended classes part-time were more likely than average to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 20.0% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for first-time undergraduates attending classes part-time is: 21.6% after six years and 23.7% after eight years.
Of these 4 students, 0 were still working towards their degree, 4 had transferred to a different institution, and C of C lost contact with the remaining 0 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 63.5% , returning students in the C of C class of 2016 who attended classes full-time were more likely than average to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 64.5% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for returning undergraduates attending classes full-time is: 53.8% after six years and 55.1% after eight years.
Of these 343 students, 6 were still working towards their degree, 230 had transferred to a different institution, and C of C lost contact with the remaining 107 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 34.3% , returning students in the C of C class of 2016 who attended classes part-time had a graduation rate similar to the national average. After eight years, the graduation rate was 36.4% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for returning undergraduates attending classes part-time is: 36.0% after six years and 37.8% after eight years.
Of these 63 students, 0 were still working towards their degree, 36 had transferred to a different institution, and C of C lost contact with the remaining 27 whom we assume dropped out.
