Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates

Per ACEJMC accreditation, SJMC "gathers, maintains and analyzes enrollment, retention and graduation data and posts them annually in a prominent, easy-to-find place on its website" (Standard 1: Mission, Governance and Administration).

First Year Undergraduate Retention Rates for students entering iowa with Journalism and Mass Communication declared as primary program
	Retained JMC		Retained at Iowa		Not Retained		Cohort	1st Yr Retention Rate
Cohort Year	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Fall 2015	61	67.8%	19	21.1%	10	11.1%	90	88.9%
Fall 2016	59	59.0%	26	26.0%	15	15.0%	100	85.0%
Fall 2017	49	62.0%	20	25.3%	10	12.7%	79	87.3%
Fall 2018	37	53.6%	24	34.8%	8	11.6%	69	88.4%
Fall 2019	46	59.0%	26	33.3%	6	7.7%	78	92.3%
Fall 2020	44	68.8%	14	21.9%	6	9.4%	64	90.6%
Fall 2021	37	69.8%	11	20.8%	5	9.4%	53	90.6%
Fall 2022	43	65.2%	19	28.8%	4	6.1%	66	93.9%
Fall 2023	40	64.5%	14	22.6%	8	12.9%	62	87.1%
Fall 2024	48	71.6%	12	17.9%	7	10.4%	67	89.6%
TOTAL	464	63.7%	185	25.4%	79	10.9%	728	89.1%

Four year Graduation Rates for Students Entering Iowa with Journalism and Mass Communication declared as primary program
	Graduated with JMC degree within 4 years		Graduated from Iowa with another degree within 4 years		Did not graduate with a degree within 4 years		Cohort	4-year Grad Rate
Cohort Year	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%
Fall 2015	41	45.6%	22	24.4%	27	30.0%	90	70.0%
Fall 2016	35	35.0%	25	25.0%	40	40.0%	100	60.0%
Fall 2017	31	39.2%	17	21.5%	31	39.2%	79	60.8%
Fall 2018	32	46.4%	21	30.4%	16	23.2%	69	76.8%
Fall 2019	33	42.3%	19	24.4%	26	33.3%	78	66.7%
Fall 2020	37	57.8%	10	15.6%	17	26.6%	64	73.4%
Fall 2021	25	47.2%	10	18.9%	18	34.0%	53	66.0%
Total	234	43.9%	124	23.3%	175	32.8%	533	67.2%

Six Year Graduation Rates for Students Entering Iowa with Journalism and Mass Communication declared as primary program
	Graduated with JMC degree within 6 years		Graduated from Iowa with another degree within 6 years		Did not graduate with a degree within 6 years		Cohort	6-year Grad Rate
Cohort Year	N	%	N	%	N	%	Number	%
Fall 2015	48	53.3%	26	28.9%	16	17.8%	90	82.2%
Fall 2016	39	39.0%	31	31.0%	30	30.0%	100	70.0%
Fall 2017	35	44.3%	24	30.4%	20	25.3%	79	74.7%
Fall 2018	35	50.7%	23	33.3%	11	15.9%	69	84.1%
Fall 2019	35	44.9%	27	34.6%	16	20.5%	78	79.5%
Total	192	46.2%	131	31.5%	93	22.4%	416	77.6%

This report uses standard Iowa BOR (Board of Regents) definitions for calculating 1st-year retention and graduation rates. Specifically: The entering cohort is limited to Fall, undergraduate, new first-time first-year students who have 12+ enrolled hours or are listed as full-time, who are considered eligible for BOR reporting.

This report includes only students who have declared Journalism and Mass Communication as their primary plan of study.

Updated 09/15/2025