Retention

Retention rate - University of Waterloo vs. other North American public institutions by selectivity of the 2011 full-time, first-year cohort continuing their studies in 2012

This figure shows Waterloo's retention rate is higher than other public univerisities. Data for this figure are in the Data Table section.

Definition

Percentage of full-time, first year students who entered into a first-entry undergraduate program who continued their studies the next fall

The University of Waterloo is compared to all public institutions that participated in the Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE)

Public universities are group based on their selectivity (the range of Scholastic Assessment Test(SAT)/American College Testing (ACT) scores required for acceptance)

Data Sources

Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE)

Inclusions and Exclusions

Inclusions:
- Full-time, first year students who entered into a first-entry undergraduate program (Full-time = 4 courses or more in the Fall term without advanced standing)
- New to the institution in the fall term without advanced standing (Note: if a student were to do two completely distinct degrees without credit overlap they would be counted in two cohorts; this rarely happens)
- First year retention means the students was registered in some capacity (full-time or part-time or co-op work term) in the following fall
Exclusions:
- Second Entry Programs, which are programs that require either several years of an undergraduate degree or complete degree before entry (Optometry, Social Work at Renison, Pharmacy)
- Students registered in Social Work at Renison due to status as a second entry program

Data Table

Institutional Grouping	Year 1 (2011) to Year 2 (2012) Retention Rate
Waterloo	90.8%
Public--Highly Selective	88.3%
All Public	81.6%
Public--Selective	77.5%
Public--Moderately Selective	73.9%
Public--Less Selective	70.9%