Accreditation

The university uses several data points to assess student success, including retention and graduation rates disaggregated by student demographic categories. These measures are contextualized below by comparing Furman’s rates to averages of selected peer institutions. The data comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

Students judge their own individual success by their post-graduation plans and whether they have reached their educational goals. However, it is common to publish measures of aggregate student success in achieving educational milestones culminating with graduation. These calculations benefit from reliable data that is gathered annually by IPEDS and made available to the public. The sections below describe how Furman tracks and compares persistence in college to graduation and disaggregates these success rates to different types of students. The university’s strategy to improve student success is outlined below, including near-term goals for certain metrics.

First-year persistence is the likelihood that a first-time college student returns to Furman for a second year, which is an indication of how well Furman’s admissions, financial aid, student life and academic programming match a student’s characteristics and expectations. This first-year persistence rate is commonly used in higher education as a benchmark of student success, and it serves as an early indicator of graduation rates. These rates are associated with the starting year of a cohort of students.

Table 1. Rates at which students continue from first to second year of college, by year of calculation, so that the 2017 entry is the retention rate for the 2016 entering cohort. 

To illustrate the table’s use, 93% of the student cohort that began in fall of 2016 returned to campus in fall of 2017 (leftmost figure) for their second year of college. The average rate for the peer group was 92% (The list of peer institutions appears at the bottom of this page). The university produces detailed internal reports that use statistical modeling to understand these rates for different kinds of students. Furman’s goal is to reach 94% persistence rate from first to second year in college.

The goal for most Furman undergraduates is to graduate within four years. Commensurate with Furman’s mission

Tables 2 and 3. Four-year graduation rates for classes graduating in the given years by gender and race/ethnicity categories with goals highlighted. Results for 2020 and later have some covid-induced effects, which won’t be fully expunged until 2027.

The peer comparison data is limited by the IPEDS data release schedule. In particular, the four-year graduation rates are not released until six years after the cohort starts.

While most students who graduate Furman do so within four years, a few take an additional year or two. Furman’s goal for six-year graduation rates is 83% regardless of federal Pell grant eligibility.

Table 4. Six-year graduation rates for classes graduating in the given years by Pell-eligibility status. Results for 2020 and later have some Covid-induced effects, which won’t be fully expunged until 2025.

The goal of Furman’s strategic plan is to increase first-year persistence rates to 94% and to achieve overall four-year graduation rates of 81% and six-year graduation rates of 83% for all four demographic groups shown in the tables. This means slightly improving rates for non-Pell receiving students and majority students, and lifting rates somewhat for Pell-receiving and minority students.

The strategy to increase success rates is to adjust academic and student-service programming using data science to identify needs and the adoption of methods shown to be successful at other institutions. For example, a college success program called Pathways was developed and tested at Furman, and is now a part of the curriculum for all incoming students. The goals of the Pathways program include academic success and career preparation.

For more information on the numbers in this report, contact Furman’s Office of Assessment and Institutional .

Furman selected as peer institutions other liberal arts and sciences colleges and universities with similar characteristics: Bucknell University, Denison University, DePauw University, Franklin & Marshall College, Lafayette College, Mount Holyoke College, Oberlin College and Conservatory, Occidental College, Skidmore College, Thomas Aquinas College, Trinity College, Union College and Whitman College. This group is listed near Furman in US News rankings of best national liberal arts colleges, and each has a Carnegie Classification similar to Furman’s as a primarily baccalaureate institution with an arts and science (liberal arts) emphasis.

Furman University

Substantive Change Policy

SACSCOC

The Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement

Credit Hours

Distance and Correspondence Education

Faculty Credentials

Substantive Change Policy and Procedures

Additional Resources

Furman University Faculty/Staff Policies and Procedures Manual

Furman University 2022 – 2023 Graduate Studies Catalog

Furman University 2022 – 2023 Undergraduate Academic Catalog