Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, reports that the 87.8 percent of all undergraduate students who matriculated in the fall of 2010, came back for their second year in the fall of 2011. This is the highest retention rate in the university’s history.
The retention rate for African American was 87.4 percent, just slightly lower than the rate for all students. Five years ago at Purdue there was an 11 percentage point gap in the retention rate for all students and the rate for African American students.
“The playing field is becoming more level,” says Pamela Horne, associate vice provost of enrollment management and dean of admissions.
