Indicator: 36 - College/University Retention

Why This Is Important

The Maine Marks developers believe strongly that positive experiences in post-secondary education are vital for Maine's long-term economic growth and for fulfilling the aspirations of Maine's young people.

Retention data is not currently collected for reporting purposes on a statewide level. Primarily due to resource constraints and difficulties in locating data, a decision was made to put off reporting on this indicator until the next annual report in 2003. Work on defining this indicator and collecting the related data will commence in late 2002. There is some public satisfaction and employer satisfaction data reported in Measuring Up 2000: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education. The following is from a statewide survey conducted in 2000:

• 50% of those surveyed believe the state's high schools do an excellent or good job preparing students for college.
  
• 51% of those surveyed believe there are many qualified people who don't have the opportunity to go to college in the state.
  
• 19% of those surveyed believe the price of college is out of reach in the state.
  
• 25% of those surveyed believe too many college students in the state are dropping out or taking too long to finish.
  
• 47% of those surveyed believe colleges contribute a lot to making their part of the state a better place to live and work.
  
• 38% of those surveyed believe a typical college graduate from the state has high levels of skills and knowledge.

In addition, the State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education (2000) reports for Maine the following:

• 65% of first year community college students return for their second year;
  
• 76% of freshman at four-year colleges/universities return for their sophomore year;
  
• 60% of first-time, full-time students complete a Bachelors Degree within 5 years.