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Printer-Friendly ModeFall retention down, but grad rates up overall
December 10, 2007 —
With the semester coming to a close this week, a number of students are preparing for graduation. According to Assistant Director of Institution Research Matthew Binder, approximately 457 students will receive degrees this Friday night at the Fall 2007 Commencement. This is a slight decrease (4.8 percent) from last fall's graduating numbers, which were 480 students.
Winter semester graduations have always seen higher numbers. In May of this year, 814 students received their degrees. For the most part, winter semester graduation numbers have been on the rise since the winter of 2003, when 671 students graduated. Winter semester of 2006 saw 835 students graduate, which was slightly more than this year.
On the other hand, fall semester graduations haven't seen much growth at all. In the fall of 2002, there were 440 graduates, and only two years ago, exactly 457 students received degrees matching the estimated numbers for this fall.
Looking into graduates from the specific colleges, the College of Education has seen the most graduates over the last few years.
The College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences has seen its graduation numbers steadily increasing in both the fall and winter semesters. With an estimated 160 student receiving degrees, this is the first semester that the College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences has seen a higher number of graduates than the College of Education.
The College of Nursing and Health Sciences has seen the biggest increase of graduates with a growth rate of more than 130 percent.
Looking at graduate level students receiving degrees, there seems to be little growth, with winter semester seeing only a 1 percent increase since the 2002-2003 school year.
Some of these statistics may seem off as far as supporting the growth of SVSU, but when looking at the winter semester statistics of the last four years, there is little question as to whether or not the University is growing.