Unrequited love in fall 2017, or Where did UMaine’s admitted-but-nonmatriculating students go? Data from the National Student Clearinghouse UMaine Office of Institutional Research 30 November 2017 ________________________________________ The National Student Clearinghouse is a non-federal, independent, nonprofit organization that serves as a repository for student data on enrollment and degree attainment. More than 3,600 institutions of higher education participate in the Clearinghouse enrollment verification service, capturing over 98% of currently enrolled college students in the United States (http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/colleges/studenttracker/).1 The Office of Institutional Research annually uses this service to obtain the names of schools that UMaine’s admitted-but-nonmatriculating undergraduate applicants chose to attend (first- time students only). The present report summarizes our most recent effort in this regard. Specifically, we determined the destination school for the 8,755 undergraduate applicants who: • were admitted at UMaine for fall 2017, • did not matriculate at UMaine, and • enrolled at another school instead.2 Caveat: These 8,755 students account for 89% of the first-time-student applicants who were admitted at UMaine for fall 2017 but did not matriculate here.3 The remaining 11% reflect the fact that some individuals: • did not enroll at any school in fall 2017, • enrolled elsewhere but did not permit the Clearinghouse to release their enrollment information (there were 63 such cases), or • enrolled elsewhere but the destination school is not a Clearinghouse participant. Thus although a marvelous data source, the Clearinghouse is not without imperfections. 1 The 2010 report, College graduation rates: Behind the numbers (American Council of Education) includes an informative overview of the National Student Clearinghouse (see pp. 10-13). It is available online at http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Documents/College-Graduation-Rates-Behind-the-Numbers.pdf . 2 If a student’s Clearinghouse record showed only a single school for fall 2017, we counted students as enrolled even if they did not complete the fall term. If a student enrolled at more than one school in fall 2017, we used these rules to decide which school to count: (a) a school at which the student had withdrawn is trumped by a school at which the student had not withdrawn, (b) full-time status trumps part-time status, and (c) a four-year school trumps a two- year school (other things being equal). 3 We excluded from this base 6 students who enrolled in the Intensive English Institute and 20 students who withdrew before the fall census date and for whom there was no evidence of enrollment elsewhere. 2 We begin by showing the top 22 destination schools for UMaine’s admitted-but- nonmatriculating undergraduate applicants, with Maine residents and nonresidents combined. These institutions capture 40% of the 8,755 students for whom enrollment records were reported by the Clearinghouse. Top 22 destination schools: Residents and nonresidents combined records % of all reported records University of New Hampshire 573 6.5% University of Vermont 327 3.7% University of Massachusetts, Amherst 304 3.5% University of Rhode Island 292 3.3% University of Southern Maine 271 3.1% University of Connecticut 199 2.3% University of Massachusetts, Lowell 178 2.0% Husson University 161 1.8% University of New England 160 1.8% University of Maine, Farmington 125 1.4% Plymouth State University 98 1.1% Maine Maritime Academy 94 1.1% Roger Williams University 94 1.1% Quinnipiac University 83 0.9% Saint Joseph’s College of Maine 78 0.9% Pennsylvania State University 76 0.9% University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth 74 0.8% Keene State College 73 0.8% Merrimack College 72 0.8% Wentworth Institute of Technology 72 0.8% Westfield State University 72 0.8% Bridgewater State University 71 0.8% 3,547 40.5% We now turn to a brief summary of the Clearinghouse results, separately for Maine residents (n = 2,119) and nonresidents (n = 6,636). 3 Maine residents (n = 2,119) We begin with the top 20 destination schools for Maine residents. These 20 institutions capture 57% of the 2,119 Maine residents for whom enrollment records were reported by the Clearinghouse. Top 20 destination schools: Maine residents records % of all reported records University of Southern Maine 234 11.0% Husson University 147 6.9% University of Maine, Farmington 121 5.7% University of New England 95 4.5% Maine Maritime Academy 87 4.1% Saint Joseph’s College of Maine 69 3.3% University of New Hampshire 63 3.0% Southern Maine Community College 49 2.3% University of Vermont 49 2.3% Thomas College 41 1.9% Colby College 37 1.7% Eastern Maine Community College 35 1.7% University of Maine, Augusta 26 1.2% Wheaton College 23 1.1% Central Maine Community College 22 1.0% University of Maine, Fort Kent 22 1.0% Wentworth Institute of Technology 22 1.0% Worcester Polytechnic Institute 22 1.0% Northeastern University 20 0.9% University of Rhode Island 20 0.9% 1,204 56.8% 4 Roughly half (51.5%) of Maine residents—again, who were admitted at UMaine but enrolled elsewhere—stayed in Maine. And one fifth of Maine residents attended another UMS school, with USM and UMF predominating (as they invariably do): breakdown of Maine residents USM 11.0% UMF 5.7% attending UMA 1.2% another UMS campus: UMFK 1.0% 20.6% UMPI 0.8% UMM 0.8% Almost one third of Maine residents attended a non-UMS school in Maine, with the community colleges and Husson University accounting for roughly half of these students: breakdown of Maine residents (not exhaustive) Husson University 6.9% attending a Maine community college 6.3% non-UMS University of New England 4.5% school in Maine: Maine Maritime Academy 4.1% 30.9% Saint Joseph’s College 3.3% Bates, Bowdoin, Colby 2.9% 7% of Maine residents enrolled at one of the other New England land-grant universities, with University of New Hampshire and University of Vermont unfailingly predominating: breakdown of Maine residents UNH 3.0% attending UVM 2.3% another URI 0.9% NELGU: UMass 0.4% 6.9% UConn 0.3% 5 Nonresidents (n = 6,636) We begin with the top 20 destination schools for nonresidents. These 20 institutions capture 40% of the 6,636 nonresidents for whom enrollment records were reported by the Clearinghouse. Top 20 destination schools: Nonresidents records % of all reported records University of New Hampshire 510 7.7% University of Massachusetts, Amherst 296 4.5% University of Vermont 278 4.2% University of Rhode Island 272 4.1% University of Connecticut 193 2.9% University of Massachusetts, Lowell 174 2.6% Plymouth State University 86 1.3% Roger Williams University 79 1.2% Pennsylvania State University 75 1.1% University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth 74 1.1% Quinnipiac University 73 1.1% Westfield State University 72 1.1% Bridgewater State University 70 1.1% University of New England 65 1.0% Keene State College 61 0.9% Merrimack College 60 0.9% University of Delaware 56 0.8% University of Massachusetts, Boston 55 0.8% Wentworth Institute of Technology 50 0.8% Salem State University 48 0.7% 2,647 39.9% 6 Among nonresidents who were admitted at UMaine but enrolled elsewhere, the overwhelming majority—97.3%—selected a school beyond the Maine border. Almost one quarter of these nonresidents enrolled at another New England land-grant university, with University of New Hampshire being the clear favorite: breakdown of nonresidents UNH 7.7% attending UMass 4.5% another UVM 4.2% NELGU: URI 4.1% 23.3% UConn 2.9% Less than 1% of nonresidents attended a UMS school: 37 of these 50 students enrolled at USM, 4 at UMF, 3 at UMFK, 3 at UMM, 2 at UMPI, and 1 at UMA. An additional 2.0% of nonresidents (n = 131) enrolled elsewhere in Maine—the lion’s share at University of New England (n = 65), Unity College (n = 17), and Husson University (n = 14). ***************************** A list of destination schools for all UMaine’s admitted-but-nonmatriculating applicants is available upon request, as are lists for particular UMaine colleges, academic units, and majors. .