WARWICK – By the school’s count, the retention rate of Rhode Island Promise students reported by the Community College of Rhode Island earlier this week is on par with previous, recent freshmen year figures.
More than half, 62.4 percent, of the Rhode Island Promise students returned to CCRI at the start of the fall term to pursue their second year in the program.
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The two fall-to-fall retention rates of first-time, full-time students directly out of high school for CCRI students immediately prior to implementation of the R.I. Promise program are 64.9 percent (2015-2016) followed by 63.6 percent (2016-2017).
According to the latest CCRI data, the first R.I. Promise cohort, which enrolled in fall 2018, consisted of 1,584 students. Nine hundred eighty-nine individuals returned for the second year of tuition- and fee-free coursework.
This figure is an update from the 1,577 published earlier in the previous academic year to include late FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) paperwork from some CCRI students.
In first reporting the CCRI retention rate, Providence Business News compared the local number to the Tennessee Promise program’s 63 percent retention rate.
However, when only looking at retention rates of participating community colleges in the Volunteer State, that percent drops to 58.
Since opening up the conversation earlier this week, CCRI has received criticism concerning a perceived lack of clarity regarding the publication of data outlining the success of the tax payer-funded program.
And, some of the strongest calls for more review come from within CCRI.
Steven D. Murray, chair of the criminal justice and legal studies department at the community college, would like to see the school be more transparent about the R.I. Promise program in general.
In an interview Thursday with PBN, Murray, who also serves as the president of the CCRI faculty union, said he supported the program when it was launched.
“Who in higher education wouldn’t want to see [more students attend college]” he asked rhetorically.
However, because of the state’s reliance on taxpayer dollars to foot the initiative, Murray wanted to see the return on investment.
Murray said he repeatedly requested Rhode Island Promise data; enrollment figures, grades; at intervals throughout the academic year as early as mid-terms and as recently as the conclusion of summer programs – all of which were rebuffed by the school’s administration.
Of the data released by the school earlier this week, Murray says its incomplete. He would like to know the classes in which those students enrolled and the number of credits they earned in the past 12 months, among additional metrics.
Regarding his criticism of the school, also his employer, he said: “It’s not the Steven Murray agenda. People want to know [the results, and] not just people who work here, tax payers too.”
In a letter sent to the CCRI community on Sept. 28, CCRI Vice President of Student Affairs and Chief Outcomes Officer Sara Enright expressed her “gratitude” to faculty and staff in the run up to the current academic year.
Therein, Enright reported R.I. Promise cohort two enrollment was more than 2,000 this fall. By the school’s count, a 25 percent jump from the previous year.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.
