CU Engage Data on Inclusion and Belonging

CU Engage constantly evaluates its programs.  An important area of focus is the degree that programs promote student sucess and create welcoming, inclusive and equitable learning experiences for first generation and under-represented students.  We gather this information in a number of ways.  First, we work with CU Boulder Institutional Research to calculate our retention and graduation rates.  In addition, we regularly survey students in our programs.

Undergraduate Six Year Graduation Rates (calculated December 2018)

Students in our programs graduate at rates higher than the general population. The difference is magnified for students of color in our programs. This data is through the 2017-2018 Academic year.  In Table 1, we compare conditional 6-year graduation rates of INVST, PA students, Puksta, and LSM students to the approximate 6-year graduation rate for the general population of CU students. We also compare graduation rates of students of color in our programs in comparison to this population of CU students. The table shows how CU Engage students at each point of entry are matched with the appropriate counterparts, e.g., graduation rates for students who joined a program in their third year are compared with graduation rates for all CU students enrolled in their third year. Click here for the full analysis.

Table 1: Conditional Six Year Graduation Rates

The obvious question is whether CU Engage programs have a positive impact on graduation rates or this is a result of selection effects, i.e. students who chose CU Engage programs are already driven to graduate.  CU Engage’s internal evaluation took an alternative approach to this question. The research literature has shown that a student’s sense of belonging is a crucial contributor to success, especially for first generation and students of color (Strayhorn, 2018; Hurtado et al, 1998).

CU Engage Students Report High Levels of Inclusivity, Belonging, and Acceptance of Diverse Political Opinions (calculated December 2019)

Every year we measure students’ sense of inclusivity and belonging in CU Engage programs in comparison to their experiences in other classes and on campus. For AY18-19 we saw continued high ratings by CU Engage students about their experiences in CU Engage classes and we saw an even greater difference between how they rate their experiences in CU Engage classes relative to their experiences in other classes and on campus outside of classes. These differences are even more dramatic for Students of Color; a greater percentage of whom agree that CU Engage classes are inclusive relative to their experiences in other classes and on campus outside of classes. Though this does not answer the question of selection effects, it suggests that CU Engage programs are providing a sense of belonging that is empirically linked to higher graduation rates, especially for students of color.

We adopted questions from the 2014 CU Boulder climate survey in which students rated their experiences on a 6 point scale that measured the degree of inclusiveness in classes and on campus (e.g. Uncivil =1...Civil =6), with a score of 6 representing the most positive score). In Table 2, we report the percentages of respondents who answered 5 or 6 on 6 point scale. 

Table 2: Comparison of Inclusivity across Three Domains of Campus Life (AY2018-2019)

*The exact wording of questions is: Please rate your experiences in CU Engage / All classes / CU Campus on the following scale.

• My experiences inside the classroom, have been… 

• My experiences other than the classroom have been ...

• My experiences, solely in _____ (CU Engage Program), have been ...