Indicator: Postsecondary persistence
Definition
Students continue enrolling in college in subsequent years, including transfers to other colleges.
RECOMMENDED METRIC(S)
Percentage of students who continue enrolling in college (including transfers to other colleges) or complete a credential the following year, captured for up to 150 percent of program length. Other time frames, such as 100 and 200 percent of program length, should also be reported for this measure.
Note: CEDS Connections offer guidance, including data elements and step-by-step analysis recommendations, for how to calculate select metrics.
Type(s) of Data Needed
Administrative dataWhy it matters
Continued enrollment in college is a prerequisite for degree completion. However, first-year persistence rates of Black and Latino students (approximately 65 and 69 percent, respectively) are lower than those of White and Asian students (approximately 79 and 87 percent, respectively). Overall persistence rates dropped by approximately 2 percentage points from 2019 to 2020 after remaining fairly steady for several years, which may be attributable to the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, persistence rates declined more significantly in community colleges (-3.5 percentage points) than any other type of institution.
What to know about measurement
Though institutions can measure their annual retention of students, measuring persistence in any college requires linking student records to data from other institutions. National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data can be used to calculate both retention and persistence rates, though the NSC does not report this information publicly at the institution level (it does report aggregate analyses in its annual Persistence and Retention report series, and institutions that participate in their Student Tracker for Colleges and Universities or the Postsecondary Data Partnership service can access these data). The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) publicly reports data on retention at individual institutions but does not report a persistence measure that accounts for transfers to other institutions.
We suggest measuring both retention at the initial institution as well as persistence in any institution because the former helps institutions understand which students may be leaving and why, whereas the latter offers a systemwide view that captures transfers to other institutions.
E-W Case Studies
Source frameworks
This indicator appeared in nine source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our proposed measure aligns with work by the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
References
The framework's recommendations are based on syntheses of existing research. Please see the framework report for a list of works cited.