By The Numbers: DFW Rates

One way to measure the success of our students in courses offered by the College of Journalism and Mass Communications is to examine the rate at which students drop, fail or withdraw from courses. The rates in isolation don’t tell us much, but examining our rates compared to other colleges and the rates of courses across our college can provide us insight into how well we are providing students with a rigorous curriculum in which they can be successful.  

In 2021-2022, the University’s overall DFW rate was 9.9%, meaning that 9.9% of all students enrolled in all courses dropped, failed or withdrew from the course. The university’s DFW rate has been steadily declining over the past five years. 

The DFW rate for the College of Journalism and Mass Communications has consistently been below the university rate. However, unlike the university trend, the college’s DFW rate has been increasing over the past five years. 

The CoJMC falls in the middle of the pack when examining DFW rates by the college. In 2021-2022, Arts and Sciences, Agriculture and Natural Resources and Engineering had higher DFW rates than CoJMC, while Business, Fine and Performing Arts, Architecture and Education and Human Sciences has lower rates. 

In 2021-2022, JGEN courses had the highest DFW rate, at 19.2%, while BRDC courses have the lowest at 6%. 

Overall, in ADPR, the DFW rate was 6.2% in 2021-2022. Students enrolled in the introductory courses and 300-level elective courses succeed at higher than average rates. At the same time, students enrolled in the 200-level required courses and 400-level elective courses, drop, fail or withdraw at higher than average rates. 

Overall, in BRDC, the DFW rate was 6.0% in 2021-2022. Again, students enrolled in the 200-level required courses, drop, fail or withdraw at a higher-than-average rate. 

In JOMC courses, the average DFW rate was 8.2% in 2021-2022. Students drop, fail or withdraw from communication design courses and elective JOMC courses at a higher-than-average rate. However, students enrolled in the required introductory courses, law and ethics drop, fail or withdraw at a lower-than-average rate. 

JGEN courses have the highest DFW rate in the college at 19.2%. Within JGEN students are struggling the most in JGEN 120, Basic Business Communications and JGEN 184, Intro to Photography and Videography. 

JOUR courses have an average DFW rate of 6.5%. This rate is heavily influenced by students who struggle in the core required writing courses of JOUR 200A and JOUR 200B. 

SPMC courses had an average DFW rate of 6.2% in 2021-2022. Students appear to struggle most in the introductory course and the required data journalism class. 

The College has recently opted into a pilot project with the Office of Undergraduate studies. The office has created a new data dashboard, the performance outliers dashboard, that will use grades recorded in Canvas to identify students who are performing 50% or more below the class average. This data will be utilized to conduct outreach to students early in the semester with the intention of providing them with resources to improve their course performance. This is the second semester of this pilot and early data indicates that this project may improve DFW rates in courses across campus.