Student Achievement Data
Retention
Retention is the percentage of first-year students that return to the same institution for the second year. Students who are not retained by the same institution may be enrolled at another institution. U of I retention data informs the institution of opportunities for improvement, supporting student success and institutional health.
Data Source: IPEDS
Comparison with our peer institutions allows the U of I to understand retention in relation to our competitors. Retention data is compared nationally, with the U of I’s official peer institutions. Additional comparison is made regionally, with Idaho 4-year public institutions.
National Peer Institutions: Georgia Southern University, Kent State University at Kent, Louisiana Tech University, North Dakota State University – Main Campus, South Dakota State University, Tennessee Technological University, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts – Boston, The University of Montana, and The University of Wyoming.
Regional Peer Institutions: Boise State University, Idaho State University, Lewis-Clark State College
Completion
Completion rates provide the percentages of students who graduate or complete their program within a specified timeframe. Students and their families use these rates in the college decision making process. The University of Idaho tracks 4-year and 6-year graduation rates to understand how long it takes its students to complete a bachelor’s degree.
Read more about how graduation rates are explained.
- 4-year graduation rate: The number of students who completed their degree program within 100% of the “normal time,” or 4 years (8 semesters). Data Source: IPEDS
Comparison with our peer institutions allows the U of I to understand completion in relation to our competitors. Completion data is compared nationally, with the U of I’s official peer institutions. Additional comparison is made regionally, with Idaho 4-year public institutions.
National Peer Institutions: Georgia Southern University, Kent State University at Kent, Louisiana Tech University, North Dakota State University – Main Campus, South Dakota State University, Tennessee Technological University, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts – Boston, The University of Montana, and The University of Wyoming.
Regional Peer Institutions: Boise State University, Idaho State University, Lewis-Clark State College
- 6-year rate: The number of students who completed their degree program within 150% of the “normal time,” or 6 years (12 semesters).
Comparison with our peer institutions allows the U of I to understand completion in relation to our competitors. Completion data is compared nationally, with the U of I’s official peer institutions. Additional comparison is made regionally, with Idaho 4-year public institutions.
National Peer Institutions: Georgia Southern University, Kent State University at Kent, Louisiana Tech University, North Dakota State University – Main Campus, South Dakota State University, Tennessee Technological University, University of Maine, University of Massachusetts – Boston, The University of Montana, and The University of Wyoming.
Regional Peer Institutions: Boise State University, Idaho State University, Lewis-Clark State College
Post-Graduate Success
Post-graduate success is measured by how well students fare in their careers within six-months of graduation. Data is collected from U of I graduates using NACE’s First-Destination Survey by the Career Services. We track the percentage of students who are working (part or full-time), continuing their education (earning another degree such as a master’s or doctorate), or are still looking for employment.
Recent graduates are sent the survey approximately 5 months after graduation from the U of I. Career Services follows up with students who don’t respond or indicated they were still seeking, and update their post-grad status. The survey has an initial response rate of approximately 30%, and responses are later supplemented by Career Services’ findings using LinkedIn and other sources, to determine the official “knowledge rate.”
The Career Services analyzes and publishes a summary report of career outcomes for U of I graduates, as well as summaries by college. Final results for 2020-2021 graduates are available. Additionally, national summary reports are available from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which include reports and trends for classes going back to 2014.
Comparison with peer institutions allows the U of I to understand retention in relation to our competitors. The charts below shows career outcomes comparisons between U of I, U of I subpopulations, and selected national peer groups.
| Comparison Group | N |
|---|---|
| University of Idaho | 1,295 |
| All Institutions | 508,665 |
| Carnegie R1 | 273,391 |
| Similar Sized Schools | 98,739 | All Publics | 367,271 |
To better understand the career outcomes of our student subpopulations, U of I analyzed a sample from the 2020-21 dataset that included unduplicated U of I students enrolled as seniors in either Fall 2020 or Spring 2021 semesters. Findings are shown below for career outcomes by sex, first generation status, and race/ethnicity.
| Race/Ethnicity | N |
|---|---|
| White | 652 |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 21 |
| Asian | 24 |
| Hispanic | 19 | Black or African American | 13 | Hawaiian Native or Other Pacific Islander | 6 | Unreported | 39 | Overall | 774 |
Analysis of the 2021-22 dataset will include socioeconomic status and will be discussed in future reports. This demographic data was not available for the 2020-21 dataset.
Persistence
Persistence is the percentage of first-year students that return to any institution for the second year, whereas retention rate measures the percentage of first-year students that return to the same institution for the second year. This means students who successfully continue their studies at another institution are counted as successfully pursuing their educational goals. For first-year students who began at the U of I in Fall 2014, 89.9% returned to study at an institution for the second year in Fall 2015.
Enrollment is tracked through the National Student Clearinghouse.
Data Source: IPEDS Measure Outcomes, 2014 Cohort
Persistence data is reported for the following demographics. Data is redacted for groups with 5 or fewer students.
| Race/Ethnicity | N |
|---|---|
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 5 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 172 |
| White | 1,232 |
| Black or African American | 24 |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 5 |
Comparison with our peer institutions allows the U of I to understand persistence in relation to our competitors. Overall persistence rate is compared nationally with the National Student Clearinghouse average for the 2014 Cohort.
The U of I is moving from using IPEDS Measure Outcomes to National Student Clearinghouse data, to collect more recent data on persistence that can be used for planning purposes. This will also allow the institution to engage in more robust peer comparison and benchmarking.