1. When do students add or drop their courses during a term?By
Elizabeth Davies, Sr. Data Analyst
Roop Prabhu, Sr. Institutional Research Analyst
Golden Gate University

2. Golden Gate University
Private, non-profit, since Downtown SF
5 schools:
Undergraduate
Tax
Accounting
School of Business (MBA, H.R., I.T., Psych, Finance, etc.)
Law
About 4,000 students
About 1/3rd of students take classes solely online.
Mixture of cohort/self-paced, international, and military
Washington Monthly ranked GGU Best College for Adult Learners
Graduation Rates (3-year between 35% and 80%)

3. Add/Drop Analyses: Analyzing Self-paced Tax, Accounting, Undergrad, MBA, HR, and IT Students, 2014 to 2018

4. Analyzing Self-paced Tax, Accounting, Undergrad, MBA, HR, and Info Tech Students, 2014 to 2018

5. Academic Years, Terms, and Sub-terms
Fall Term
Spring Term
Summer Term
16 Week Term
Sub-term A
Sub-term B
Sub-term C
Early registration begins ~2 months before the start of the A/B term
The last day to drop a course with a refund is 3 weeks into the term (census date)
First-terms vs. Second-terms for Self-Paced Students
Students’ first term:
Mandatory scheduled meeting with enrollment counselor, Path-to-Completion discussed
Student’s second term
Advisors are there to help students register for courses but students register on their own
For this study, add and drop curves were assessed on student’s second-term key courses within specific grad and undergrad programs

6. Some hypotheses about when and which types of students add or drop during their second term (from the Director of Advising)
Both Military and International students add earlier and drop less
Online only students add earlier since they have less choice in the classes they can sign up for
Tax and Accounting courses are harder to get into earlier so students add earlier and drop less
Domestic in-person students add later compared to other groups since they have more course flexibility
Students who perform better in their first term register earlier and drop less
Students who add earlier and drop earlier graduate more and stop-out less

7. Methods Add and Drop Analyses (Second Term)
From the academic years 2014 to 2018, second term enrollment (add/drop) data were compiled for students in self-paced Tax, Accounting, MBA, HR, IT, and Undergrad in their key second term courses.
Graph adds and drops over the term
Compute medians and averages
Times between adding and dropping a course were computed
Regression equations were run assessing whether earliest add date, earliest drop date, or maximum time between adding and dropping were predictive of graduation and stopping out.

8. Methods—Variables Outcomes Assessed (Course specific) Student Level
Add Date
Drop Date
Days between Adding and Dropping
Student Level
Race
Gender
Modality
Type (Military/International/Domestic)
Age
Institution Level
Program
Acad. year/Term
End Statuses Assessed
(Student specific)
Graduating (AY 2014 to 2016)
Stopping Out (AY 2014 to 2017)
Course Level
Second term course
Modality (online/ in-person)
First-term Success Data
Course pass rate (courses passed/ courses taken)

9. What are the differences in add and drop behavior by school?
Start of term
Add-drop
Registration over the term looks different for the two graduate groups and the undergraduate group
Undergrads and Business Grads drop more courses over the term than Tax & Acct Grads
Undergrads register farther in advance
There are many more C-term UG courses

10. What about different student types?
Start of term
Add-drop
Domestic students register for courses primarily in the eight weeks before term
Military students register further in advance, likely due to the larger number of undergraduate C term registrations, they also drop courses at a lower rate
International students register at the fastest rate in the eight weeks before start of term

11. Do military and international students add and drop earlier?
Student Type
Avg. Week Added or Dropped
Median Week Added or Dropped
Course Registrations
Added
Domestic
-5.84 -7
1,957
Military
-6.35
437
International
-5.87
388
Total
-5.92
2,782
Dropped
-0.49 -1
376
-1.36 56
-0.36 1 69
-0.57
501
Grand Total
Military students add and drop courses earlier, international students do not drop earlier.

12. How does add and drop behavior differ between student types?
Domestic, international, and military students add courses peaking in the seventh week before term starts with a smaller bump the week before start for domestic and military students
Drops peak for domestic and international students the week term starts, while military students drop the week before
Start of term
Add-drop

13. Military students are mostly Undergrads
C-term classes are mostly undergraduate level
To compare like to like we then assessed only undergrad students

14. Do undergrad military students drop less?
Domestic undergrads drop more classes and continue to drop courses later in term than military undergrads
Start of term
Add-drop

15. Do undergrad military students add and drop courses earlier?
Military Status
Avg. Week Added or Dropped
Median Week Added or Dropped
Course Registrations
Added
Domestic
-6.23 -6
491
Military
-6.42
292
Total
-6.30
783
Dropped
-0.96 -1
120
-1.86 43
-1.20
163
Grand Total

16. When do undergraduates add and drop courses?
Start of term
Add-drop
Domestic and military students add courses in peaks at 7 weeks and 1 week before the start of term
They also both peak in dropping courses the week before the term starts

17. Course modality

18. How does course modality affect adds and drops?
Start of term
Add-drop
In person courses are registered for at the fastest rate 7 to 8 weeks before start of term
Online courses are dropped more than in person courses

19. Are online courses added earlier?
Modality
Avg. Week Added or Dropped
Median Week Added or Dropped
Course Registrations
Added
In Person
-6.33 -7
1,440
Online
-5.49 -6
1,342
Total
-5.93
2,782
Dropped
-0.99 -1
226
-0.23
275
-0.57
501
Grand Total
No, in person courses are added (and dropped) earlier

20. Do domestic students register for in person courses later?
Status
Modality
Avg. Week Added or Dropped
Median Week Added or Dropped
Course Registrations
Added
Domestic
In Person
-6.28 -7
947
Online
-5.43 -6
1,010
International
-6.21
322
-4.20 -5 66
Military
-6.85
171
-6.03
266
Total
-5.93
2,782
No, they add in person courses earlier (but so do International and Military students)

21. When do students add and drop online versus in person courses?
Start of term
Add-drop
In person and online courses peak in add seven weeks from the start of term
Online courses have another bump the week before term start
Online courses are most dropped the week before term starts
In person classes are most dropped the week after term starts

22. How does first term success affect drop behavior?
First Term Courses
Second Term Measures
Fail One
or More
Pass All
Count of Students 92
1,570
Drop at least one 2nd term course
27.2%
22.7%
Avg. First Add Day
-40.8
-41.7
Avg. First Add Drop Day
-44.5
-42.9
Avg. First Drop Days
5.6
-7.0
Median First Add Day
-42
-45
Median First Add Drop Day
-41
Median First Drop Day 1 -2

23. Regression Analyses
Outcome 1 assessed: Ever graduating (using AY 2014 to AY 2016 second term data)
Outcome 2 assessed: Ever stopping out (using AY 2014 to AY 2017 second term data)
Each of the above outcomes is regressed against each of the following predictor variables
Predictor variable 1: EARLIEST week adding a course in the second term
Predictor variable 2: EARLIEST week dropping a course in the second term
Predictor variable 3: MAXIMUM time between adding and dropping a specific class
All the above predictor variables are adjusted by gender, race, age, and modality
All the predictor variable above were highly non-normal, and were all standardized.
All odds ratios shown are significant and are based upon standardized predictor variables

24. Regression Results--Graduation
Graduation (Outcome Variable)
Data Subcategories
Overall
Online Only
In-Person/Hybrid
Military
International
Domestic
Undergraduate
Tax
Accounting
Human Resources
MBA
Info Tech
Adjusted Predictor Variables
Week Adding First Course
0.85
0.83
0.79
0.65
0.48
Week Dropping First Course
0.69
0.63
0.70
0.46
 0.53
MAXIMUM Days Between Adding and Dropping Courses
0.73
0.50
0.16
 0.24
0.01

25. Regression Results—Stopping Out
Stopping Out (Outcome Variable)
Data Subcategories
Overall
Online Only
In-Person/Hybrid
Military
International
Domestic
Undergraduate
Tax
Accounting
Human Resources
MBA
Info Tech
Adjusted Predictor Variables
Week Adding First Course
1.24
1.50
2.12
Week Dropping First Course
1.54
1.75
 1.58
 1.59
8.60
MAXIMUM Days Between Adding and Dropping Courses
5.08

26. LOGISTIC REGRESSION RESULTS
Predicting Graduation
Adding early (as opposed to adding later) was positively correlated with graduation.
Significantly in these categories: overall, for online students, domestic students, and for Tax and Accounting students
Dropping early (as opposed to dropping later) was positively correlated with graduation
Significantly in these categories: overall, for online students, domestic students, and for Undergraduate and Accounting students
Shorter times between adding a class and dropping a class was positively correlated with graduation
Significantly in these categories: overall, for non-online students, military and domestic students, and for MBA students
Predicting Stopping Out
For domestic students, adding later was correlated with stopping out
Significantly in these categories: for online students, and Tax and Accounting students
Dropping later was correlated with stopping out
Significantly in these categories: overall, for online students, and for domestic students, and Undergraduate and MBA students
Longer times between adding and dropping a class was correlated with stopping out
Significantly in these categories: for MBA students

27. How do our hypotheses hold up?
1. Both Military and International students add earlier and drop less
Military students drop less, and add and drop earlier
Military UG students add slightly earlier than Domestic UG students, and drop earlier
2. Online students add earlier
False. Online courses are added and dropped later than in person courses.
3. Tax and Accounting students add earlier and drop less
Tax and Accounting students do add earlier and drop less
4. Domestic in person students add later
False. Domestic students add in person courses earlier than online courses. This is true for international and military students as well.
5. Students who perform better in their first term register earlier and drop less
Students that pass all first term courses add slightly earlier than those that don’t and they drop fewer courses
6. Students who add earlier and/or drop earlier graduate more and stop-out less
This is shown to be true overall.
For Graduation: especially for online and domestic students, Tax, Accounting, and Undergrad
For Stopping out: especially for online, domestic, and MBA students.

28. Further Research and Analysis
Assess add/drop trends for other programs and/or other courses.
Assess key courses individually.
Look to see if first four hypotheses are true for first term students
For the two hypotheses that are false, investigate why
Assess Term Type
Assess why shorter times between adding and dropping a class are so predictive of stopping out for MBA students.
Seek further questions and feedback from advisors

29. Future Plan: Talk to Advisors More!
Meeting more with advisors
Working with advisors as a department is very important. They have huge repositories of qualitative/quantitative data and for hypotheses for research.
There is a need to onboard advisors for gathering data.
What are some ways you have worked with Advisors/Counselors at your institutions?

30. Questions? Comments?
Thanks!