Fewer College Students Returning for Second Year: First-year college retention is slipping among the nation’s four-year, public and private institutions, while retention rates are increasing at two-year public colleges, researchers say.
Retention rates among four-year institutions are at the lowest level since researchers at ACT, Inc., a national testing service, began gathering such data 26 years ago. According to the latest results of an annual survey conducted by ACT, the percentage of U.S. college freshmen who return to the same college for their second year of school hovers around 66 percent. Part of a three-year downward trend, the number of college students retained overall by postsecondary institutions declined 3 percent from 2005 to 2008.
But retention rates for two-year institutions are at an all-time high, according to the survey. Fifty-four percent of students at two-year public colleges returned for their second year in 2007-2008, up from 51 percent the previous year.
