by our College Data Analytics TeamHow long does it take to earn a degree at Aurora? Find out how many students return after their freshman year, how long it takes to graduate, and what happens to the students who don't.
Freshmen retention rate refers to the percentage of first-time / full-time students who return for their second year.
With 78% students making it past their freshmen year, Aurora has freshmen retention rates above the national average.
Nationwide, the average first to second year retention rate is 70.57%.
When looking at just colleges and universities in Illinois, the average is 72.64%.
| Retention Rate | |
|---|---|
| Aurora | 78% |
| Nationwide | 70.57% |
| Illinois | 72.64% |
There were approximately 712 students in the class of 2015. How many of them actually completed their degree in a timely fashion?
Four years after beginning their degree, 38% of those students had graduated. By 2017, six years after starting their degree, 61% of the students had graduated and after eight years 62% of this class completed their degree.
Any student who completes their bachelor's degree within six years is considered to have graduated on time, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This makes the offical Aurora graduation rate 61%.
The average length of time it takes an Aurora undergraduate student to complete their bachelor's degree is 4.29 years.
| Completion Within | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 616 | 53% |
| Six Years | 712 | 61% |
| Eight Years | 11 | 1% |
| Did Not Complete | 439 | 38% |
Approximately 439 students or 38% of the cohort did not complete their degree within eight years.
What happened to the 439 students who did not complete their degree?
1 are still enrolled.
76 transferred to another institution.
Aurora lost contact with the remaining 362 who we assumed dropped out.
| Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 1 | 0.2% |
| Transferred | 76 | 17.3% |
| Dropped Out | 362 | 82.5% |
| Race/Ethnicity | Graduation Rate |
|---|---|
| American Indian or Alaskan Native | 33% |
| Asian | 100% |
| Black / African-American | 33% |
| Hispanic | 57% |
| International | 33% |
| Multi-Ethnic | 58% |
| Unknown | 61% |
| White | 62% |
Some schools have mainly first-time, full-time students, while others cater to part-time students, transfer students, or adult learners. For a variety of reasons first-time, full-time students under the age of 25 are usually more likely to graduate in four years.
Traditional Students:
First-time, full-time students under the age of 25.
Non-Traditional Students:
Any student that is not first-time, full-time, and under the age of 25.
The majority of students at Aurora are considered 'traditional students' who are first-time attending full-time.
Comparing the graduation rates of specific cohorts shown below will be more revealing than the overall statistics shared above.
First-time / full-time students at Aurora University represent 41% of the students in the class of 2015, and 35.25% of Aurora bachelor's degree graduations.
With a four-year graduation rate of 38%, first-time students in the Aurora class of 2015 who attended classes full-time were more likely than average to graduate on time.
After six years, the Aurora graduation rate was 53%, and by the eight year mark, 54% of the cohort had completed their degree.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for first-time undergraduates attending classes full-time is 37.92% after four years, 46.43% after six years, and 47.82% after eight years.
| First-Time / Full-Time Completions | Aurora | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 38% | 37.92% |
| Six Years | 53% | 46.43% |
| Eight Years | 54% | 47.82% |
219 first-time / full-time students or 46% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
1 are still enrolled.
52 transferred to another institution.
Aurora lost contact with the remaining 167 who we assumed dropped out.
| First-Time / Full-Time Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 1 | 0.46% |
| Transferred | 52 | 23.74% |
| Dropped Out | 167 | 76.26% |
Unfortunately, we don’t have access to data on Aurora first-time, part-time students.
554 Aurora students were classified as full-time / not first-time. This represents 47.55% of the students in the class of 2015.
Non first-time students could include transfer students or adults who have returned to school after an absense.
With a six year graduation rate of 69%, returning students in the class of 2015 and attended classes full-time had a graduation rate higher than the national average for students in this category.
After eight years, the graduation rate was 69%.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for non first-time undergraduates attending classes full-time is: 49.57% after four years, 53.83% after six years, and 55.07% after eight years.
| Returning / Full-Time Completions | Aurora | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 0% | 49.57% |
| Six Years | 69% | 53.83% |
| Eight Years | 69% | 55.07% |
172 non first-time / part-time students or 31% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
0 are still enrolled.
23 transferred to another institution.
Aurora lost contact with the remaining 149 who we assumed dropped out.
| First-Time / Part-Time Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 0 | 0.00% |
| Transferred | 23 | 13.37% |
| Dropped Out | 149 | 86.63% |
131 Aurora students were classified as full-time / not first-time. This represents 11.24% of the students in the class of 2015.
With a six year graduation rate of 62%, returning students in the class of 2015 and attended classes full-time had a graduation rate higher than the national average.
After eight years, the graduation rate was 63%.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for non first-time undergraduates attending classes part-time is: 36.03% after six years, 36.03% after eight years.
| Returning / Part-Time Completions | Aurora | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 0% | 30.46% |
| Six Years | 62% | 36.03% |
| Eight Years | 63% | 37.80% |
48 non first-time / part-time students or 37% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
1 are still enrolled.
1 transferred to another institution.
Aurora lost contact with the remaining 46 who we assumed dropped out.
| Returning / Part-Time Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 1 | 2.08% |
| Transferred | 1 | 2.08% |
| Dropped Out | 46 | 95.83% |
