Dear Data Scientist,
Are students really better off taking 15 credits rather than 12 credits?
– Mike, Advising Center
The quick answer is yes, but to understand why, some explanation is required. Students’ credit-taking behavior has been changing over the past decade. The change from year to year is almost imperceptible, and many advisors may not have even noticed. But when you look at the last ten years, the trend is noticeable: credit load per student has been decreasing for both first-time students (NEF) and transfer-in students (NET) at St. Cloud State. The change over the ten-year period is just a fraction of a credit per student, but when multiplied by 10,000 degree-seeking undergraduate students, it amounts to over 5,000 credits, the equivalent of 60 fewer sections of 30-student classes.
Figure 1
This change, however, is not in the best interest of many students. In the context of increasing college debt, Complete College America points out that taking more credits each semester allows students to graduate earlier, thereby eliminating some college costs. National numbers suggest that students who take at least 15 credits per semester are more likely to complete their degree than those who take 12. In fact, institutions in 22 states are embarking on various campaigns to encourage students to take 15 credits.
Would St. Cloud State students benefit from taking more credits?
Table 1
Table 2
Our students would gain in several ways from taking more credits. Minnesota offers extra financial aid to students who take 15 or more credits, one of only two states in the nation to do so. Students entering college with senior-to-sophomore or PSEO credits sometimes use those credits as a justification for taking a lighter course load per semester. If they completed 15 credits at a time, these students would graduate even earlier and save money too. A recent analysis on credit-taking behavior and GPA found that attempting 15 credits helps most St. Cloud State students academically. Considering outcomes such as second-term GPA and third-term retention (Tables 1 and 2), first-year students who enroll for 15 credits in their second term achieve better results when compared to those who enroll for 12 credits. This pattern is consistent even after controlling for the first-term GPA of the students.
Are students choosing 15 credits?
In spite of these benefits, more students enroll in 12 credits than 15 credits. The reasons vary from family and work responsibilities, to a belief that taking fewer credits will help them achieve a higher GPA, to not understanding the effect credit-taking behavior has on timely graduation. In Fall 2015 and Spring 2016, only 28% of students at St. Cloud State were enrolled in 15 or more credits.
Figure 2
Many St. Cloud State students say they choose to take fewer credits because they believe they will raise their GPA by devoting more time to each class. The evidence does not support this belief. The same analysis on credit-taking behavior and GPA showed that most students have a better chance of raising their GPAs by taking 15 credits versus taking only 12 credits. Figure 3 illustrates the relationship for the particular case of students with 75 credits and a 3.00 GPA.
Figure 3
Table 3
Changing the credit-taking behavior of students will require an adjustment in mindset for both students and advisors. We are used to thinking of 12 credits as a full load in part because financial-aid requirements of 12 credits per semester. But in fact, to graduate in four years, or eight semesters, a student who enters St. Cloud State as a first-time student must accumulate an average of 15 credits per semester in order to reach the 120 total credits required for graduation. By taking only 12 credits per semester, a student would be expected to take ten semesters to reach 120 credits. Because many students go beyond the minimum requirement, the actual terms to graduation are often higher (Table 3).
Across national research and research conducted at St. Cloud State, the evidence indicates that most students are better off attempting 15 credits as opposed to 12 credits. It is surprising how much of a difference some small changes can make in our students’ prospects for graduation. Taking an extra class may be one such change that has a big impact.
About the data scientist: Uche Nwoke is a Data Scientist in the Office of Strategy, Planning and Effectiveness at St. Cloud State University.
