Colleges pay lots of attention to the percentage of their new freshmen who return for their sophomore year as well as the percentage of each freshman cohort who eventually graduate. These two metrics are reported to regulatory agencies as well to publishers of college guidebooks and college choice websites. Retention and graduation rates are widely regarded as proxies for student satisfaction and achievement.

They can and do vary significantly between different colleges and even from year to year at one college depending upon many variables. Incoming student quality indices such as SAT scores are highly correlated with retention rates; better students tend to stay with their studies and their original college. Based upon analysis of benchmark data from peer colleges, RMU believes that it has retention and graduation rates that compare favorably with colleges of similar academic quality.

RMU actively tries to boost its retention and graduation rates. The Center for Student Success and the Department of Athletics offer extensive tutoring and counseling services to students who need academic or personal help with various aspects of their college life. The University also has a Committee for Student Success with membership from every area of its operations. The Committee examines retention data and trends in order to pinpoint and address areas of strength and weakness.

Here is some recent retention, graduation and transfer-out rate data for RMU: