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of their sophomore year, rather than switching out of engineering or dropping out
altogether. Second-year retention means that students return to engineering for the fall of
their sophomore and the fall of their junior year. Third-year retention means in addition
that they return for the fall of their senior year. Fourth-year retention means that they did
not graduate in four years but still persisted in the engineering major. Graduation in the
major indicates that they completed the undergraduate degree in engineering from this
program. If they drop the engineering major, most students do so after the first year; a
smaller proportion drop after the second year; and very few drop out of engineering as
upper division students. Note that the tables presented here track all students who
enrolled in engineering as first year students and do not take into account switching
between engineering majors, nor do they account for the (relatively few) transfer students
into the program.
Averaging the data from 1996-2001, we see that 19.7% of the students dropped out
after the first year, giving a first-year retention rate of 80.3%. Another 9.7% dropped out
after the second year, giving a second-year retention rate of 70.6%. Third-year retention
is 66.8%, and fourth-year retention, 64.7%. Over 80% of the College’s first engineering
cohort (beginning in 1996) graduated in engineering. By 2001 51.9% of the 1997 cohort
had graduated, but 7.8% were still enrolled in engineering. Of 1998 cohort, 57% were
still enrolled or had completed the undergraduate degree by 2001.
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