The information technically shows the status at the beginning of the second and subsequent years, but this may also be referred to as after the first year. Table 1 and Figure 1 show four, five and six-year graduation rates for the 1977 through 1995 cohorts. Table 2 shows 1991-1998 freshmen cohort graduation and retention information for the University. Tables 3 and 4 describe graduation, retention, and persistence information by college for the 1994 cohort. This rate has remained almost the same for the last three years.
Persistence is a measure of students continuing or graduating.
The fall 1989 class was the last class to have a first-year persistence rate of ninety percent or more. The four-year persistence rate for the most recent class is 68 percent. This represents a slight improvement in comparison to the year earlier period but remains below the 70 or better rate of other recent years. The six-year rate for the 1993 cohort is 65 percent. This represents an increase from the 1992 cohort rate of 63 percent.