A year has passed since the federal Office of Management and Budget deemed Gallaudet University as "ineffective" in retaining and graduating students. This year, according to a report by the Office of Management and Budget, Gallaudet has been promoted to "adequate" status, despite its still low retention rate of around 40 percent. AU's retention rate is more than double that of Gallaudet's, according to statistics from schools' offices of Institutional Research.
The OMB released a written statement, which said the U.S. Department of Education intends to monitor Gallaudet's effort to improve its retention and graduation rates.
Gallaudet, a liberal arts school that serves the deaf and hearing impaired, receives funding that "helps promote educational and employment opportunities for persons who are deaf," according to a written statement from the OMB.
A rating of "adequate" by the OMB implies that the program "needs to set more ambitious goals [and] achieve better results." Last year's rating of "ineffective" means that a program is not making results because of unclear goals and subpar management, according a press release from the OMB, which is under the management of the White House.
Gallaudet's retention rates in the past years have remained unchanging in the low 40 percent levels, according to the Department of Education. The undergraduate graduation rates following the completion of freshman year have been in the low 70 percent levels. These numbers are too low and have been too stagnant, according to the Office of Management and Budget.
The Office of Management and Budget intends to add or change "performance measures related to student outcomes and develop strategies to improve outcomes related to staying in school, graduation, and employment," according to its report on Gallaudet.
The report said the OMBt and the Department of Education will monitor those parts of Gallaudet's program that are federally funded. This will be achieved by keeping track of how funds are used, how well the programs are working and whether or not the school is cooperating with the standards set by the Office and the Department of Education, according to the report.
AU's reports of graduation and retention rates appear to be stronger than Gallaudet's. According to reports from AU's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, the retention rate for undergraduate students was about 89.1 percent in 2004. The same office reported the six-year graduation rate as 71 percent in 1999 on its Web site. Only graduation data from 1999 is available on the Web site.
Some AU students have said there are a variety of factors that made them want to continue their education at AU.
Alyssa Charland, a freshman in the School of International Service, said she knows very few people who have considered transferring and knows more people seeking to transfer into AU.
When asked why others wanted to transfer out of their schools and into AU, Charland said: "This is just a better school for what they want to do. One wants SIS, and the other [wants] philosophy and political science."
Transfer students at AU commented on why a student would change schools.
Sayde Ackerman, a recent transfer student and freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she left the University of Pittsburgh last semester because it did not meet her needs, especially in dealing with the difference in quality of life.
"No more students transfer from AU than do from any other school," Ackerman said.
She said retention depends more on lifestyle and what meets each individual student's needs.
