Students at Ohio University often can't wait to get back to campus the following year, and the growing retention rates are showing just that.
The number of students returning to campus after their first year is greater now than any of the previous four academic years.
The retention rate, or the rate of students continuing from freshman to sophomore year at OU's Athens campus, has traditionally been around 80 percent, Craig Cornell, senior vice provost for strategic enrollment management, said.
However, the class of 2019 had a higher retention rate than the class of 2018. The number has increased by a little more than 2 percent to nearly 82 percent.
This is a growth that is “one of the largest year-over-year increases we have experienced,” Cornell said in an email.
However, this increase did not help OU when competing against the national average.
According to U.S. News & World Report, the average freshman retention rate for all schools on the National Universities list was 87.2 percent in 2015. However, this number is not limited to public school, as it includes the retention rates for private schools.
Though the university’s rate may seem low when compared to the national average, against other universities in the state it has comparable numbers.
According to data from the universities in 2014, Kent State University's main campus had a retention rate of around 81 percent, while Bowling Green State
Comparing and gathering the retention rates is important to universities, but it is not the only statistic to take into consideration.
“It is only one
Even if a student chooses to go to a different university or take time off, that does not mean they cannot come back to OU, Cornell said. Those students who leave and come back would not be counted in the statistic.
Emily Eschliman, who transferred to OSU after her first year at OU, decided to leave Athens in order to get more in touch
“I think often transferring schools is not something that is talked about so you kind of feel alone and out of the ordinary when you make the decision," Eschliman said in an email. "If students were informed about their transfer options and informed that it is a normal thing to do, they would feel more comfortable making the decision."
Jason Pina, vice president for Student Affairs, said OU holds the intellectual and personal growth of the students as its central purpose.
“We are intentional in connecting students to resources early and often in that first year to make the difficult transition from home to OU as seamless as possible,” Pina said in an email.
