Student Achievement
Wildly Important Goals: Improve Retention and
Graduation Rates
Charleston Southern University’s prime competitive benchmarks are to match and then exceed the mean and the median rates for the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU). The next goal for retention is to achieve 75%. Upon passing these goals in the disaggregated categories shown below, the university will work toward matching and then exceeding the universities on CSU’s Comparison and Benchmark list and the subset of Benchmark universities by themselves (aiming for the higher standard in all cases).
Upon achieving these goals, the University will ascertain the next appropriate benchmark. Note that all data for SCICU and Benchmark derives from publicly available Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data and is often a year to two years behind for other institutions. Because of the many challenges which face the modern college student, including academic, financial, and personal challenges, the National Center for Education Statistics now tracks graduation rates through 8 years rather than 4, accounting for students who drop out briefly, and then drop back in, or who go part-time for a while, and then become full-time again.
As a brief survey of CSU’s student body shows, the university hosts a large number of first-generation students and Pell Grant and federal aid award receiving students. Many of these students need to work and have to balance the many challenges of life with staying a student, and as a result graduating in four years is often not possible. Despite these challenges, CSU is dedicated to improving the university’s graduation rates. CSU’s goals are, again, based on the graduation rates of similar institutions.
CSU will match or exceed the SCICU mean and median rates and the mean/median rates of its Benchmark and Comparison schools in all disaggregated categories and in overall completion and graduation rates.
| 1st Year Retention (3-year average for CSU) | 4-Year Graduation Rate (2021 cohort) | 6-Year Graduation Rate (2019 cohort) | 6-Year Completion Rate (2019 cohort) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSU | 68% | 40% | 50% | 53% |
| SCICU Median Rate | 68% | 41% | 52% | N/A |
| SCICU Average Rate | 69% | 41% | 50% | N/A |
| 2019 Cohort | 6-Year Completion Rate | 6-Year Grad Rate | Women 6-Year Grad Rate | Men 6-Year Grad Rate | Pell Grant Recipients 6-Year Grad Rate | Black/Af. Am. 6-Year Grad Rate | White 6-Year Grad Rate | Hispanics 6-Year Grad Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSU | 53% | 50% | 57% | 39% | 47% | 38% | 53% | 64% |
| SCICU Median Rate | N/A | 52% | 58% | 45% | 45% | 41% | 50% | 40% |
| SCICU Average Rate | N/A | 51% | 56% | 40% | 47% | 36% | 59% | 35% |
Dean’s List
Part of promoting success at Charleston Southern entails promoting our excellent students. A student has to have a 3.5 GPA to place on the Dean’s List at Charleston Southern. The numbers of students achieving this difficulty academic goal are listed below.
| Academic Year | Fall | Spring | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 636 | 671 | 1,307 |
| 2014-15 | 673 | 680 | 1,353 |
| 2015-16 | 776 | 782 | 1,558 |
| 2016-17 | 855 | 814 | 1,669 |
| 2017-18 | 901 | 874 | 1,775 |
| 2018-19 | 919 | 869 | 1,788 |
| 2019-20 | 872 | 975 | 1,847 |
| 2020-21 | 883 | 843 | 1,726 |
| 2021-22 | 851 | 795 | 1,646 |
| 2022-23 | 924 | 878 | 1,802 |
| 2023-24 | 971 | 927 | 1,898 |
| 2024-25 | 1,112 | 994 | 2,106 |