Student Achievement and Success

Retention and Graduation Rates

Trinity's Retention Committee has identified acceptable, preferred, and ideal retention and graduation rates based on comparisons with reference institutions. Trinity’s ideal, preferred, and acceptable retention and graduation rates are identified using multiple regression. For each cohort, a model is developed that uses characteristics of reference institutions to predict retention and graduation rates at Trinity. The resulting prediction is our preferred value, while the ideal and acceptable values are the upper and lower limits of the 95% prediction interval around each preferred value.

Figure 1: First to Second Year Retention Rate Targets and Actuals for First-Time Bachelor’s Degree-Seeking Undergraduates by Cohort Year

Among first-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students who started at Trinity in 2021, 91% were retained to the second year. Since 2017, Trinity’s retention rate from first to second year has exceeded the preferred retention rate, ranging from 89% to 92% with an average of 91%.

Figure 2: Bachelor’s Degree Graduation Rate Targets and Actuals for Full-Time, First-Time, Bachelor’s Degree-Seeking Undergraduates within 6 Years by Cohort Year

For the last 5 cohorts of bachelor’s degree-seeking full-time, first-time students (2012-2016), Trinity’s six-year graduation rate has been below the preferred level but above the acceptable level, with a range of 76% to 80% and an average of 78%.

Career Outcomes

Trinity University participates annually in the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) First-Destination Survey, which tracks the activities of college graduates within six months of graduation.

The First-Destination Survey provides a Career Outcomes rate, which represents the number of graduates who are employed, in volunteer or military service, or enrolled in further education divided by the number of graduates for whom an outcome is known who did not indicate that they are not seeking employment or further education. In addition, the First-Destination Survey provides a Knowledge rate, which represents the percentage of graduates for whom an outcome is known.

Trinity has identified acceptable and preferred Career Outcome and Knowledge rates based on comparisons with other institutions. The preferred values represent the rates at institutions classified as “Baccalaureate Arts & Sciences” by the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education. The acceptable values represent the rates of all graduates who earned bachelor’s degrees regardless of institution type.

Figure 3: Career Outcome Rate Targets and Actuals by Graduation Year

At this time, data is only available for 2020 and 2021 graduates. For the last two years, Trinity’s Career Outcome rate has been higher than the acceptable rate, and in 2021, Trinity’s rate was 98%, which is above the preferred rate of 92%.

Figure 4: Knowledge Rate Targets and Actuals by Graduation Year

Trinity’s Knowledge rate has been above the acceptable and the preferred rates in both 2020 and 2021, with 81% and 79% of graduates providing survey responses, respectively.

Medical School Acceptance Rates

Trinity's Health Professions Advisory Committee monitors acceptance rates to medical schools and has identified acceptable and preferred acceptance rates. The preferred acceptance rate is five percentage points above the national average, and any rate that exceeds the national average has been identified as acceptable.

Some schools have an internal selection process for students applying to medical school and will write letters, give practice interviews, etc. for only the highest-achieving students. This practice has the potential to increase acceptance rates by limiting who is supported in applying. However, Trinity University's Health Professions Advisory Committee writes letters of evaluation for every student who chooses to apply. 

Figure 5: Three-Year Rolling Average of Medical School Acceptance Rate Targets and Actuals by Medical School Matriculation Year

On average, around 40 Trinity graduates apply to medical school annually. Except for students enrolling in medical school in 2020, which was significantly impacted by the pandemic, Trinity’s graduates have consistently been accepted to medical school at rates that exceed both our acceptable and preferred rates. The average medical school acceptance rate for the last 10 years has been 59% compared to the national average of 41%.

Law School Acceptance Rates

The Prelaw Advisory Committee monitors acceptance rates to law schools and has identified an acceptable threshold of 60% of applicants being admitted to at least one ABA-accredited law school. Trinity’s graduates are consistently accepted to law school at rates that exceed the acceptable threshold. 

Figure 6: Law School Acceptance Rate Targets and Actuals

On average, around 40 Trinity graduates have applied to law school annually, and the average acceptance rate for the last 10 years has been 83%.