Financial Aid

What

Associate Deans, Graduation and Retention Specialists, and SSC/EOP Satellite Directors used data and dashboards provided by Institutional Research to identify upper-division students who started as first-time freshmen and were on track to graduate in 4.5 or five years.  Students on track and who met certain criteria were offered completion grants to facilitate 4-year graduation. Similar steps were taken with first-time transfers on track to graduate in 2.5 or three years to facilitate 2-year graduation.

Who

Project Lead: Elizabeth Adams

When

Grants were offered in Summer 2017 and Summer 2018

Outcomes

For the Summer 2017 Completion Grants:

476 students received funding (145 Fall 2013 FTF and 331 Fall 2015 FTT).  Of the 476 students, 449 graduated in Summer 2017.  As a result of students completing their degrees in the summer, the Fall 2013 FTF graduation rate went from 12.3% (without the additional 131 Summer Completion Grant graduates) to 14.6%.  The Fall 2015 FTT graduation rate went from 28.4%  (without the additional 304 Summer Completion Grant graduates) to 33.6%.

For the Summer 2018 Completion Grants:

327 students received funding (100 Fall 2014 FTF and 227 Fall 2016 FTT).  Of the 327 students, 265 graduated in Summer 2018.  As a result of students completing their degrees in the summer, the Fall 2014 FTF graduation rate went from 13.2% (without the additional 84 Summer Completion Grant graduates) to 14.7%.  The Fall 2016 FTT graduation rate went from 31% (without the additional 181 Summer Completion Grant graduates) to 35%.