by our College Data Analytics TeamMake an informed decision about your education by understanding CNU retention and graduation rates. First year retention rates let you know how many first-time, full-time students students come back for their second year. Graduation rates tell you how many students complete their degree and how long it takes.
Freshmen retention rate refers to the percentage of first-time / full-time students who return for their second year.
With 87% students making it past their freshmen year, CNU 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 Virginia, the average is 69.66%.
| Retention Rate | |
|---|---|
| CNU | 87% |
| Nationwide | 70.57% |
| Virginia | 69.66% |
Of the 1,097 students in the class of 2015, how many completed their degree on time?
Four years after beginning their degree, 63% of those students had graduated. By 2017, six years after starting their degree, 74% of the students had graduated and after eight years 75% of this class completed their degree.
The official graduation rate of CNU is 74%. This is the percentage of students who completed their degree within 150% of the published time. That means six years for a standard bachelor's degree program.
The average length of time it takes an CNU undergraduate student to complete their bachelor's degree is 4.14 years.
| Completion Within | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 949 | 64% |
| Six Years | 1,097 | 74% |
| Eight Years | 5 | 1% |
| Did Not Complete | 375 | 25% |
Approximately 375 students or 25% of the cohort did not complete their degree within eight years.
What happened to the 375 students who did not complete their degree?
1 are still enrolled.
306 transferred to another institution.
CNU lost contact with the remaining 67 who we assumed dropped out.
| Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 1 | 0.3% |
| Transferred | 306 | 81.6% |
| Dropped Out | 67 | 17.9% |
| Race/Ethnicity | Graduation Rate |
|---|---|
| Asian | 68% |
| Black / African-American | 77% |
| Hispanic | 80% |
| International | 40% |
| Multi-Ethnic | 77% |
| Unknown | 81% |
| White | 81% |
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 CNU 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 Christopher Newport University represent 84% of the students in the class of 2015, and 84.32% of CNU bachelor's degree graduations.
With a four-year graduation rate of 63%, first-time students in the CNU class of 2015 who attended classes full-time were more likely than average to graduate on time.
After six years, the CNU graduation rate was 74%, and by the eight year mark, 75% 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 | CNU | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 63% | 37.92% |
| Six Years | 74% | 46.43% |
| Eight Years | 75% | 47.82% |
314 first-time / full-time students or 25% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
1 are still enrolled.
260 transferred to another institution.
CNU lost contact with the remaining 52 who we assumed dropped out.
| First-Time / Full-Time Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 1 | 0.32% |
| Transferred | 260 | 82.80% |
| Dropped Out | 52 | 16.56% |
Unfortunately, we don’t have access to data on CNU first-time, part-time students.
226 CNU students were classified as full-time / not first-time. This represents 15.27% 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 76%, 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 76%.
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 | CNU | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 0% | 49.57% |
| Six Years | 76% | 53.83% |
| Eight Years | 76% | 55.07% |
55 non first-time / part-time students or 24% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
0 are still enrolled.
42 transferred to another institution.
CNU lost contact with the remaining 13 who we assumed dropped out.
| First-Time / Part-Time Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 0 | 0.00% |
| Transferred | 42 | 76.36% |
| Dropped Out | 13 | 23.64% |
8 CNU students were classified as full-time / not first-time. This represents 0.54% of the students in the class of 2015.
With a six year graduation rate of 25%, returning students in the class of 2015 and attended classes full-time had a graduation rate lower than the national average.
After eight years, the graduation rate was 25%.
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 | CNU | Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| Four Years | 0% | 30.46% |
| Six Years | 25% | 36.03% |
| Eight Years | 25% | 37.80% |
6 non first-time / part-time students or 75% did not complete their degree within eight years.
Of those who did not finish:
0 are still enrolled.
4 transferred to another institution.
CNU lost contact with the remaining 2 who we assumed dropped out.
| Returning / Part-Time Non-Completions | Undergraduates | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Still Enrolled | 0 | 0.00% |
| Transferred | 4 | 66.67% |
| Dropped Out | 2 | 33.33% |
