by our College Data Analytics TeamMake an informed decision about your education by understanding how Drexel'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 Drexel . Remember, every extra semester it takes to graduate will increase the cost of your degree.
With 89.0% of students staying on for a second year, Drexel University is one of the best in the country when it comes to freshman retention.
Nationwide, the average first year to second year retention rate is 69.0% . When looking at just colleges and universities in Pennsylvania , the average is 75.0% .
At Drexel , there were 5,393 bachelors degree candidates in the class of 2016 . By 2018 , six years after beginning their degree, 64.6% of these students had graduated. After an additional two years, 66.2% 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 33.8% did not graduate within eight years. Of these 1,824 students, 7 were still working towards their degree, 1,231 had transferred to a different institution, and Drexel lost contact with the remaining 585 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 27.0% , first-time students in the Drexel class of 2016 who attended classes full-time had a graduation rate similar to the national average. After six years, the graduation rate was 71.1% and by 2020 ,72.4% 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 Drexel , we expected that after six years about 78.4% of them would have completed their undergraduate degree.
Of these 838 students, 2 were still working towards their degree, 635 had transferred to a different institution, and Drexel lost contact with the remaining 201 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 39.8% , first-time students in the Drexel class of 2016 who attended classes part-time were among the most likely in the nation to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 41.8% .
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 60 students, 0 were still working towards their degree, 48 had transferred to a different institution, and Drexel lost contact with the remaining 12 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 77.0% , returning students in the Drexel class of 2016 who attended classes full-time were among the most likely in the nation to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 77.5% .
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 269 students, 1 were still working towards their degree, 193 had transferred to a different institution, and Drexel lost contact with the remaining 75 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 34.6% , returning students in the Drexel class of 2016 who attended classes part-time had a graduation rate similar to the national average. After eight years, the graduation rate was 38.3% .
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 656 students, 4 were still working towards their degree, 355 had transferred to a different institution, and Drexel lost contact with the remaining 297 whom we assume dropped out.
