The amount of students who transfer in and out of higher education institutions is a likely factor in the national statistics released by ACT, Inc. that claim freshman to sophomore retention is down drastically from last year.

But contrary to the national fall in retention, Eastern’s rate has risen in the last three school years making it one of the top three public institutions in Illinois for student retention and graduation.

“We have been growing in retention since Bill Perry became president at Eastern,” said Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

The ACT reported that the 2007-08 school year saw a 3 percent decrease in student retention – a rate which stood at 68.1 percent the year before. The study included both public and private institutions.

Eastern has had an increasing rate pattern, rising from 79 percent in the 2005-06 school year to 82 percent presently, more than the national average.

Lord attributes the high rate to low tuition costs, reputable academics and an amicable atmosphere.

“We are in the top three lowest tuition rates for a public institution in the state, we have programs that engage students enticing them to return and a high percent of students living in on campus housing, which we have found to let students feel a part of the university,” he said.

As Eastern does not represent the national trend, many researchers believe the statistics reported by ACT can be refuted.

Clifford Adelman, a senior associate from the Institute for Higher Education Policy, has published his presentation refuting claims that more students are dropping out.

Instead, Adelman argues that the ACT statistics do not include the 20 percent of students who do not begin college in the fall semester, the 64 percent that attend more than one school and the 25 percent that attend more than two schools.

The statistics also fail to recognize the 13 percent of students that attend summer school at community colleges and therefore drive down those institution’s rates because they do not continue attendance in the fall semester, according to his presentation.

“These rates are found on a student-basis rather than an institutional-basis, making it inaccurate as well,” Adelman said.

He continues to argue that if retention were looked at on an institutional basis, accounting for the inaccuracies above, there would be a clearer look at real retention rates. Eastern’s high rate is an example that supports Adelman’s theory, but planning and institutional studies does not distinguish between transfers and dropouts either.

On the other hand, ACT studies in the last 25 years have concluded that rates were stable and rising until this year.

Perry has discussed his goal of having Eastern reach a retention rate of 85 percent within the next five years. Lord believes this goal would be fantastic for any institution, but is hard to attain.

“The goal isn’t unachievable, either though,” he said.

Krystal Moya can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].