The second-year retention rate for full-time undergraduates at four-year public colleges and universities in the state is at an eight-year low, a “disturbing” trend which could eventually affect graduation rates, the Maryland Higher Education Commission said.
In a report released Wednesday, the commission also said that the second-year retention rate for black students at four-year schools was the lowest it?s been in 16 years.
Kevin O?Keefe, the commission?s chairman, said the state?s colleges must work together to examine this problem.
“If you look at the state of higher education in Maryland, there has not been sufficient dialogue and collaborating across the spectrum from a planning perspective,” O?Keefe said.
According to the study, the second-year retention rate of all full-time, first-time undergraduates ? measured by the percentage of those returning to their original campus after one year ? was 80.8 percent for students who enrolled in 2004. The retention rate for black students was 72.3 percent.
The retention rate does not account for students who transfer to other schools.
Michael Keller, director of policy analysis and research at the Maryland Higher Education Commission, said students usually drop out of a university “because they don?t fit in with the academic or social environment of the institution.”
Many people who drop out do so because they haven?t had significant college-preparatory coursework, Keller said.
Keller said the increasing number of students enrolling at colleges in Maryland ? the total head count is projected to increase by nearly 56,000 students by 2015 ? requires the state to examine how qualified these students are. “It really requires us as a state to look at the issue of preparation,” he said.
At the Maryland Higher Education Commission meeting Wednesday, Calvin Burnett, secretary of higher education, said the commission would study the numbers to try to understand why retention rates were sagging.
“It is a complicated issue ? but we are going to look into it,” he said.
