Student Performance Data

Students Placed Into Internships and Independent Studies

Academic Year	Independent Studies	Internships
2021-22	16	7
2020-21	11	0
2019-20	10	3
2018-19	8	2
2017-18	12	5
2016-17	30	5

Student Retention

Student retention is a measure of students that remain in the program from year to year. VCU's forensic science program maintains student interest, resulting in high retention rates. Much of student loss is during the first year due to the challenges in the math and science courses, thus resulting in students who change majors. Our program typically has a >90% retention rate for upperclassmen (juniors and seniors). This dropped to 82% for fall 2019 to fall 2020 and fall 2020 to fall 2021, which was most likely a result of the COVID pandemic; as expected, retention of juniors and seniors increased to 90% for fall 2021 to fall 2022. The national average retention rate for public universities was 81% for fall 2018 to fall 2019 (pre-COVID); this did not take into account students that changed majors as long as they remained at the university¹. 

Forensic Science Student Retention²

	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Total Undergraduates	371	355	349	353	356
Retained Students	63.3%	69.3%	71.3%	72.5%	74.2

Departed Students²

	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Change of Major	21.8%	20.3%	14.0%	14.5%	12.9%
Left University	14.8%	10.4%	14.6%	13.0%	12.9%

¹ Data reported from the National Center for Education Statistics (May 2021)

² Data displayed is based upon how many students remain in the program at the beginning (fall semester) of the following academic year. For example, "2019-20" figures represent how many students still remained in the program in the fall of the 2020-21 academic year. Data is updated annually in late November following the release of final census data from the university.