by our College Data Analytics TeamMake an informed decision about your education by understanding Penn Commercial retention and graduation rates. First year retention rates let you know how many first-time, full-time students students come back for their second year. Graduation rates tell you how many students complete their degree and how long it takes.
The freshmen retention rate applies to first-time / full-time students who come back for their second year.
With 83% students making it past their freshmen year, Penn Commercial has freshmen retention rates above the national average.
Nationwide, the average first to second year retention rate is 70.57%.
When looking at just colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, the average is 73.24%.
| Retention Rate | |
|---|---|
| Penn Commercial | 83% |
| Nationwide | 70.57% |
| Pennsylvania | 73.24% |
There were approximately 119 students in the class of 2023. How many of them actually completed their degree in a timely fashion?
Four years after beginning their degree, 53% of those students had graduated. By 2025, six years after starting their degree, 53% of the students had graduated and after eight years 53% of this class completed their degree.
Any student who completes their bachelor's degree within six years is considered to have graduated on time, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This makes the offical Penn Commercial graduation rate 53%.
| Completion Within | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 119 | 53% |
| Six Years | 119 | 53% |
| Eight Years | 0 | 0% |
| Did Not Complete | 107 | 47% |
The non-completers rate is anyone who is not still enrolled at the institution after eight years. Both transfer students and drop-outs could be included in this group.
Approximately 107 students or 47% of the cohort did not complete their degree within eight years.
What happened to the 107 students who did not complete their degree?
0 are still enrolled.
3 transferred to another institution.
Penn Commercial lost contact with the remaining 104 who we assumed dropped out.
| Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 0 | 0.0% |
| Transferred | 3 | 2.8% |
| Dropped Out | 104 | 97.2% |
Traditional first-time, full-time students under 25 tend to graduate in four years far more often than other students. Some schools serve mostly traditional students while others serve more 'non-traditional' students — part-timers or those returning after time away — who commonly take longer to finish.
Traditional Students:
First-time, full-time students under the age of 25.
Non-Traditional Students:
Any student that is not first-time, full-time, and under the age of 25.
The majority of students at Penn Commercial are considered 'traditional students' who are first-time attending full-time.
Examining the graduation rates of the specific cohorts shown below may be more revealing than looking at the overall graduaton rates.
First-time / full-time students at Penn Commercial Business/Technical School represent 84.51% of the students in the class of 2023.
After six years, the Penn Commercial graduation rate was 51%, and by the eight year mark, 51% of the cohort had completed their degree.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for this group is 37.92% after four years, 46.43% after six years, and 47.82% after eight years.
| Completions | Penn Commercial | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 51% | 37.92% |
| Six Years | 51% | 46.43% |
| Eight Years | 51% | 47.82% |
94 first-time / full-time students or 49% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
0 are still enrolled.
3 transferred to another institution.
Penn Commercial lost contact with the remaining 91 who we assumed dropped out.
| Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 0 | 0.00% |
| Transferred | 3 | 3.19% |
| Dropped Out | 91 | 96.81% |
Unfortunately, we don’t have access to data for this cohort at Penn Commercial Business/Technical School.
Returning / full-time students at Penn Commercial Business/Technical School represent 15.49% of the students in the class of 2023.
After six years, the Penn Commercial graduation rate was 63%, and by the eight year mark, 63% of the cohort had completed their degree.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for this group is 53.83% after six years, and 55.07% after eight years.
| Completions | Penn Commercial | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 0% | 49.57% |
| Six Years | 63% | 53.83% |
| Eight Years | 63% | 55.07% |
13 non first-time / part-time students or 37% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
0 are still enrolled.
0 transferred to another institution.
Penn Commercial lost contact with the remaining 13 who we assumed dropped out.
| Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 0 | 0.00% |
| Transferred | 0 | 0.00% |
| Dropped Out | 13 | 100.00% |
We don’t have data for this cohort at Penn Commercial Business/Technical School.
