The Relationship of High School Size, Gender and First-Year Retention Rates at South Dakota State University

Abstract

This study examines selected demographic characteristics of six South Dakota State University 2008 – 2013 cohorts of first-time, full-time freshmen who graduated from South Dakota public high schools. The purpose of our study is to explore the relationship between high school size, gender and student retention at South Dakota State University. Information that was both gathered and analyzed about these students includes their high school size and gender. Our examination of this data uses descriptive statistics to identify characteristics of students who were retained after their first year at SDSU. This study identifies two findings of interest: first, students graduating from high schools with populations of 200-399 students were retained at the highest level; second, gender matters for retention as females were more likely to return than males