Graphic by Alexandra Parris
The class of 2022, who claimed the title of the largest and most academically successful class that the university has seen in recent history, has completed the fall semester with more record-setting stats.
One marker of academic success is in student retention between the first and second semesters. Of the 690 first-year students enrolled at the beginning of the fall semester, 682 remain.
“That’s basically a 99 percent fall to spring retention rate,” said Eric Maloof, vice president for enrollment management. “That is the second highest in the last 15 years. It is significantly higher than the last five or six years.”
The class of 2021 had a retention rate between their first fall and spring semesters of 97.35 percent. The class of 2020 had a rate of 96.36 percent, and students who leave do so for multiple reasons.
“There are times when students leave for good reasons,” Maloof said. “We’re not the right fit or something happens that is out of their control. 682 out of 690 is a staggeringly high number, even for the type of place that Trinity is. And it’s a credit to the faculty and the staff of the institution and the perseverance of students. Faculty and staff put a lot into trying to make the Trinity experience positive for our students.”
Michael Soto, associate vice president for Academic Affairs, also mentioned the record high retention rate of the first-year class as a strong point.
“I think that there is very likely a connection between student academic preparation and their ability to progress toward a degree here,” Soto said. “With that, we expect to see very solid retention numbers. At this point it’s just a handful of students who didn’t continue from fall to spring semester. We don’t admit students who aren’t prepared to do well here. That is increasingly true as the admission rate steadily creeps down. With that, we are able to invite students to this campus who are truly prepared to flourish.”
While retention is high, the class of 2022 GPA is average.
“They had a 3.2 GPA in the fall and completed 93 percent of the courses that they attempted,” Kara Larkan-Skinner, executive director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, wrote in an email. “Course completion is exactly the same as last [year’s first-year class]. GPA was essentially the same, but the exact numbers are 3.21 in 2017 and 3.2 this year. These are great markers of success that tell us students are on the right track. Overall, all signs are pointing in the right direction, and we are excited to see what the future holds.”
Soto commented on the success of the first-year class.
“The results are looking very good,” Soto said. “Since I teach in the first-year experience (FYE) program, I have direct contact with first-year students in that way, and because I help to oversee that program for the university, I get feedback from other FYE instructors. My experience is a pretty common one. I am blown away with the levels of creative intelligence that we’re seeing among our first-year class, and that’s in keeping with the track record that Trinity students have laid down the last several years.”
