Students who took 15 credits during their first year of college did better academically and were retained at higher rates than those who took fewer credits, an analysis from the Education Advisory Board (EAB) being released today has found.
The analysis — which involved nearly 1.3 million full-time college students at 137 institutions — found that college freshmen who took an average of fewer than 15 credits per semester were 19 percentage points less likely to graduate in four years.
The analysis — believed to be the first of its kind on a national scale — also found that students with a high school GPA of 2.0 to 3.0 who took 15 or more credits ended their freshman year with a GPA that was 0.36 grade points higher than their peers — 3.04 versus 2.68.
The 15-credit takers were retained at a rate of 90 percent versus 81 percent for those who took fewer than 15 credits per semester, the analysis found.
Similarly positive findings held true even for students who were less prepared academically or who were Pell Grant recipients, said Ed Venit, senior director at EAB, showing that even lower- income students who are more likely to work during college can still handle the larger course load.
Venit says the findings should embolden counselors who may have been worried about overloading students — particularly first-generation college students — with too much coursework as they acclimate themselves to the demands of college life.
