PIERRE S.D.
Black Hills State University had the lowest retention rate among the state’s public universities in the most recent report, with only half of the freshman class returning the next year.
The report from the state Board of Regents shows that South Dakota State University in Brookings had the highest one-year retention rate among the six public universities. Seventy-six percent of new SDSU students in fall 2005 returned in 2006.
Systemwide, the retention rate was 68 percent. It was 74 percent for students who moved to a different public university after the first year.
Kay Schallenkamp, president of Black Hills State University, said the Spearfish campus has more nontraditional students, a population “that drops in and out” at times.
She said the university will improve its performance.
“That (50 percent) was probably the first number that jumped out at me,” she said. “We’re taking this pretty seriously. … Our retention rate will not be the lowest in the system.”
