1. Should To&Through maintain or change our definitions of immediate college enrollment or college persistence?
2. How much would our enrollment rates change if we included spring enrollees?
3. How do the characteristics of spring enrollees differ from those of fall enrollees?
4. How do the rates of persistence over time change under different definitions of persistence, for both four-year and two-year enrollees?
5. How does the relationship between persistence and completion change with different definitions of persistence, for both four-year and two-year enrollees?
6. What are other advantages and disadvantages of different persistence definitions?
The To&Through Project reports rates of college enrollment and college persistence in associate degree granting institutions and bachelor’s degree granting institutions for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) graduates in our annual post-secondary attainment report and on the To&Through Online High School and Community Tools.
We have reconsidered our definitions for both of these metrics, and report both our process and our decisions in this brief. Our definition of immediate college enrollment will stay the same, and we will find additional opportunities to provide data on spring first-year enrollees. We have redefined our college persistence rate.
