Institutional s Makes a Big Impact - A Study of Student Success at Sacramento State The Office of Institutional Research 1. Introduction 3,303 first-time freshmen and 2,068 transfer students have received Institutional s at Sacramento State since 2007 (based upon data provided by the Financial Aid and s Office). On average, 14% of first-time freshmen and 9% of transfers on financial aid have received Institutional as part of their financial aid package. The total scholarship amount was $9,542,026 for first-time freshmen, with an average amount of $2,889 going to each recipient; the total scholarship amount was $5,389,112 for transfers, with an average amount of $2,606 going to each recipient. Please refer to the Table 1 below for more detail: Table 1. Recipients First-time Freshmen Transfers Count % Cohort Count % Cohort Cohorts 2007 335 13.6% 2,469 325 13.2% 2,469 2008 441 16.8% 2,622 289 11.0% 2,622 2009 469 15.2% 3,076 288 9.4% 3,076 2010 432 15.8% 2,732 291 10.7% 2,732 2011 460 15.8% 2,912 256 8.8% 2,912 2012 384 12.2% 3,151 270 8.6% 3,151 2013 384 11.4% 3,366 221 6.6% 3,366 2014 398 10.8% 3,695 128 3.5% 3,695 Total 3,303 13.7% 24,023 2,068 8.6% 24,023 Distribution $1--$1,000 1,539 46.6% 841 40.7% $1,001 --$5,000 1,313 39.8% 989 47.8% $5,001 -- $10,000 281 8.5% 164 7.9% Over $10,000 170 5.1% 74 3.6% Total Amount 3303 100.0% $9,542,026 2,068 100.0% $5,389,112 Average Dispersal $2,889 $2,606 2. Institutional Recipient Profile When comparing Institutional recipients to non-recipients within the same first-time freshmen cohorts, a greater proportion of recipients were female, underrepresented minority, first generation college students, and/or were from low income families. 1
In terms of college readiness, recipients earned higher high school GPAs than non-recipients while their SAT scores and the proportion recipients in need of remediation were at levels similar to those of non-recipients. When comparing Institutional recipients to non-recipients within the same transfer cohorts, a lower proportion of recipients were first generation college students and/or were from low income families. However, recipients had higher transfer GPAs upon entry to Sacramento State, and a higher proportion of them majored in Science, Technology, Math and Engineering. All of these differences were statistically significant (See Table 2 below and Table 3 on the following page). Table 2. Comparison of Demographic Characteristics and College Readiness First-time freshmen Recipients n-recipients Count %\Mean Count %\Mean Demographic Characteristics Gender Female 2,124 64.3% 11,939 57.6% Gap Total Count 14,063 Male 1,179 35.7% 8,781 42.4% 6.7% 9,960 Race/Ethnicity Statistical Significance URM 1,526 46.2% 7,054 34.0% 8,580 12.2% n-urm 1,777 53.8% 13,666 66.0% 15,443 First Generation College Student 1,376 43.5% 6,570 33.3% 7,946 10.2% 1,787 56.5% 13,131 66.7% 14,918 Low Income (Pell Grant Eligible) 1,949 59.0% 10,162 49.0% 12,111 10.0% 1,354 41.0% 10,558 51.0% 11,912 Commuter Status Living on Campus 1,046 31.7% 5986 28.9% 7,032-2.8% Commuter 2,257 68.3% 14,734 71.1% 16,991 College Readiness Need Remediation 1,951 59.1% 12490 60.3% 14,441-1.2% Remediation 1,352 40.9% 8230 39.7% 9,582 Test Scores HS GPA 3,298 3.37 20,668 3.20 0.17 23,966 SAT Verbal 2,950 468 18,388 485-17 21,338 SAT Math 2,950 487 18,384 469 19 21,334 * T-test or Chi-Square Test, p<.001, higher value is highlighted in yellow; p<.01, higher value is highlighted in green. 2
Table 3. Comparison of Demographic Characteristics Transfers Recipients n-recipients Count %\Mean Count %\Mean Demographic Characteristics Gender Female 1,196 57.8% 15,127 56.4% Gap Total Count 16,323 Male 872 42.2% 11,692 43.6% 1.4% 12,564 Race/Ethnicity Statistical Significance URM 524 25.3% 6,182 23.1% 6,706 2.2% n-urm 1,544 74.7% 20,637 76.9% 22,181 First Generation College Student 565 29.1% 6,633 26.3% 7,198 2.8% 1,375 70.9% 18,560 73.7% 19,935 Low Income (Pell Grant Eligible) 1,027 49.7% 12,069 45.0% 13,096 4.7% 1,041 50.3% 14,750 55.0% 15,791 Commuter Status Living on Campus 108 5.2% 1,257 4.7% 1,365-0.5% Commuter 1,960 94.8% 25,562 95.3% 27,522 Transfer GPA 1,924 3.27 23,061 3.00 0.27 24,985 * T-test or Chi-Square Test, p<.001, higher value is highlighted in yellow; p<.01, higher value is highlighted in green. 3. Academic Performance of Institutional Recipients Institutional s provided financial support to students and helped them to succeed at Sacramento State. When comparing academic performance, scholarship recipients outperformed non-recipients in terms of overall GPA, Good standing rate, unit completion in first college year, 1-year retention, and 4-year/6-year graduation. Although other factors also contributed toward the academic success of these students, Institutional s were a contributing factor which undoubtedly had a significant positive impact on their academic performance (See graphs and Tables 4 and 5 on following pages). 3
Comparison of Academic Performance (First-time Freshmen) Recipients n-recipients 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 91.3% 88.7% 82.7% 79.1% 59.1% 38.8% 1st Year Pass Rate 1-year Retention 6-Year Graduation Comparison of Academic Performance (Transfers) Recipients n-recipients 120.0% 100.0% 80.0% 60.0% 99.7% 98.9% 93.4% 84.3% 78.6% 61.6% 40.0% 20.0% 0.0% 1st Year Pass Rate 1-year Retention 4-Year Graduation te: The numbers in red show the significant differences. 4
Table 4. Academic Performance of First-time Freshmen Recipients n-recipients Total Statistical Count %\Mean Count %\Mean Gap Count Significance First Year Overall GPA Term 1 GPA 3,303 3.02 20,720 2.68 0.34 24,023 Term 2 GPA 3,212 2.97 19,460 2.67 0.31 22,672 First Year Pass Rate (Overall GPA>=2.0) Pass 2,931 91.3% 16,095 82.7% 8.6% 19,026 t Pass 281 8.7% 3,365 17.3% 3,646 First Year Unit Completion Overall Unit 3212 28 19,460 24 4 22,672 Unit per term 14 12 2 STEM Major 776 23.5% 4,951 23.9% -0.4% 5,727 2,527 76.5% 15,769 76.1% 18,296 1-Year Retention (2007-2013 Cohorts) Persisted 2577 88.7% 13,775 79.1% 9.6% 16,352 Withdrew 328 11.3% 3,648 20.9% 3,976 6-Year Graduation (2007-2008 Cohorts) Graduated 459 59.1% 1,674 38.8% 20.4% 2,133 t Graduated 317 40.9% 2,641 61.2% 2,958 *Chi-Square Test, p<.001, higher value is highlighted in yellow; p<.01, higher value is highlighted in green. te: STEM majors were based on the status of first semester. 5
Table 5. Academic Performance of Transfers Recipients n-recipients Total Statistical Count %\Mean Count %\Mean Gap Count Significance First Year Overall GPA Term 1 GPA 2,068 3.28 26,819 2.99 0.29 28,887 Term 2 GPA 2,006 3.28 24,700 2.99 0.28 26,706 First Year Pass Rate (Overall GPA>=2.0) Pass 1,999 99.7% 24,421 98.9% 0.8% 26,420 t Pass 7 0.3% 279 1.1% 286 First Year Unit Completion Overall Unit 2006 95 24,700 91 4 26,706 Unit per term STEM Major 426 20.6% 3,830 14.3% 6.3% 4,256 1,642 79.4% 22,989 85.7% 24,631 1-Year Retention (2007-2013 Cohorts) Persisted 1812 93.4% 19,695 84.3% 9.1% 21,507 Withdrew 128 6.6% 3,675 15.7% 3,803 4-Year Graduation (2009-2010 Cohorts) Graduated 938 78.6% 7,832 61.6% 17.0% 8,770 t Graduated 255 21.4% 4,873 38.4% 5,128 *Chi-Square Test, p<.001, higher value is highlighted in yellow; p<.01, higher value is highlighted in green. te: STEM majors were based on the status of first semester. 4. Comparison of the Academic Performance of Matched Groups Through utilization of the new Case-Control Matching feature within SPSS, this study was able to match the scholarship recipients with non-recipients within first-time freshmen and transfers. It selected 5,870 first-time freshmen and 5,422 transfers from both scholarship recipients and non-recipients, which consisted of approximately 70.7% of the total number of scholarship recipients within first-time freshmen and 85% of the total number of scholarship recipients within transfers. The resulting matched groups showed no significant differences in terms of demographic characteristics and college readiness. In other words, both groups came from the similar background when comparing their performance. The Table 6 and Table 7 demonstrate the findings: 6
Table 6 Comparison of Demographic Characteristics and College Readiness First-time freshmen Recipients n-recipients Count %\Mean Count %\Mean Demographic Characteristics Gender Female 818 35.0% 1,493 34.4% Gap Total Count 2,311 Male 1,518 65.0% 2,845 65.6% 0.6% 4,363 Race/Ethnicity Statistical Significance URM 1,027 44.0% 1,856 42.8% 2,883 1.2% n-urm 1,309 56.0% 2,482 57.2% 3,791 First Generation of College Student 973 41.7% 1,761 40.6% 2,734 1.1% 1,363 58.3% 2,577 59.4% 3,940 Low Income (Pell Grant Eligible) 1,350 57.8% 2,480 57.2% 3,830 0.6% 986 42.2% 1,858 42.8% 2,844 Commuting Status Living on Campus 675 28.9% 1207 27.8% 1,882-1.1% Commuter 1,661 71.1% 3,131 72.2% 4,792 College Readiness Need Remediation 1,386 59.3% 2595 59.8% 3,981-0.5% Remediation 950 40.7% 1743 40.2% 2,693 Test Scores HS GPA 2,336 3.33 4,338 3.32 0.02 6,674 SAT Verbal 2,336 484 4,338 483 2 6,674 SAT Math 2,336 467 4,338 467 0.1 6,674 7
Table 7 Comparison of Demographic Characteristics Transfers Recipients n-recipients Count %\Mean Count %\Mean Demographic Characteristics Gender Female 743 42.2% 1,474 42.3% Gap Total Count 2,217 Male 1,017 57.8% 2,010 57.7% -0.1% 3,027 Race/Ethnicity Statistical Significance URM 426 24.2% 832 23.9% 1,258 0.3% n-urm 1,334 75.8% 2,652 76.1% 3,986 First Generation of College Student 504 28.6% 989 28.4% 1,493 0.2% 1,256 71.4% 2,495 71.6% 3,751 Low Income (Pell Grant Eligible) 876 49.8% 1,733 49.7% 2,609 0.1% 884 50.2% 1,751 50.3% 2,635 Commuting Status Living on Campus 72 4.1% 134 3.8% 206-0.3% Commuter 1,688 95.9% 3,350 96.2% 5,038 Transfer GPA 1,760 3.26 3,484 3.24 0.02 5,244 Interestingly, the findings of the comparisons of the matched groups and those for all recipients and all non-recipients were quite similar: In relation to the matched groups, scholarship recipients once again outperformed non-recipients in terms of overall GPA, unit completion and pass rate during first college year as well as 1-year retention, 2/4-year graduation and 4/6-year graduation. The only change was the pass rate between scholarship recipients and non-recipients which showed no significant difference within transfers. In addition, the performance gaps between participants and non-participants were also slightly reduced. However, those differences were still statistically significant. Please see the graphs and Table 8-9 on following pages: 8
Comparison of Academic Performance (First-time Freshmen) Recipients n-recipients 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 91.2% 85.4% 88.5% 81.3% 60.7% 45.9% 11.9% 8.5% 1st Year Pass Rate 1-year Retention 4-Year Graduation 6-Year Graduation Comparison of Academic Performance (Transfers) Recipients n-recipients 120.0% 100.0% 80.0% 60.0% 40.0% 20.0% 0.0% 99.7% 93.5% 99.8% 79.8% 85.0% 64.4% 24.0% 21.3% 1st Year Pass Rate 1-year Retention 2-Year Graduation 4-Year Graduation 9
Table 8 Academic Performance of First-time Freshmen Recipients n-recipients Total Statistical Count %\Mean Count %\Mean Gap Count Significance First Year Overall GPA Term 1 GPA 2,336 3.00 4,338 2.80 0.20 6,674 Term 2 GPA 2,280 2.95 4,111 2.76 0.20 6,391 First Year Pass Rate (Overall GPA>=2.0) Pass 2,080 91.2% 3,510 85.4% 5.8% 5,590 t Pass 200 8.8% 601 14.6% 801 First Year Unit Completion Overall Unit 2280 27 4,111 25 2.6 6,391 Unit per term 13.7 12.3 1.3 STEM Major 500 21.4% 888 20.5% 0.9% 1,388 1,836 78.6% 3,450 79.5% 5,286 1-Year Retention (2007-2013 Cohorts) Persisted 1810 88.5% 3,108 81.3% 7.2% 4,918 Withdrew 235 11.5% 717 18.7% 952 4-Year Graduation (2007-2010 Cohorts) Graduated 135 11.9% 188 8.5% 3.4% 323 t Graduated 1,002 88.1% 2,023 91.5% 3,025 6-Year Graduation (2007-2008 Cohorts) Graduated 298 60.7% 465 45.9% 14.8% 763 t Graduated 193 39.3% 549 54.1% 742 *Chi-Square Test, p<.001, higher value is highlighted in yellow, p<.01, higher value is highlighted in Green. te: STEM majors were based on the status of first semester. 10
Table 9 Academic Performance of Transfers Recipients n-recipients Total Statistical Count %\Mean Count %\Mean Gap Count Significance First Year Overall GPA Term 1 GPA 1,760 3.27 3,484 3.22 0.05 5,244 Term 2 GPA 1,709 3.27 3,228 3.21 0.06 4,937 First Year Pass Rate (Overall GPA>=2.0) Pass 1,704 99.7% 3,220 99.8% -0.1% 4,924 t Pass 5 0.3% 8 0.2% 13 First Year Unit Completion Overall Unit 1709 95 3,228 92 4 4,937 Unit per term STEM Major 347 19.7% 672 19.3% 0.4% 1,019 1,413 80.3% 2,812 80.7% 4,225 1-Year Retention (2007-2013 Cohorts) Persisted 1646 93.5% 2,962 85.0% 8.5% 4,608 Withdrew 114 6.5% 522 15.0% 636 2-Year Graduation (2009-2012 Cohorts) Graduated 422 24.0% 742 21.3% 2.7% 1,164 t Graduated 1,338 76.0% 2,742 78.7% 4,080 4-Year Graduation (2009-2010 Cohorts) Graduated 845 79.8% 1,892 64.4% 15.4% 2,737 t Graduated 214 20.2% 1,048 35.6% 1,262 *Chi-Square Test, p<.001, higher value is highlighted in yellow, p<.05, higher value is highlighted in blue. te: STEM majors were based on the status of first semester. 11