“According to the latest federal data, only 76% of former freshmen returned to Harvard for their second year in the fall 2020, bringing the university’s otherwise impressive three-year average retention rate to about 90%, from 98% last year. Fellow Ivy Leaguer Yale University, which dropped six spots in our rankings this year, also saw its retention rate take a nosedive to 65% in fall 2020 from 99% the prior year.”
That is a dumb criteria to use mechanically when it does not adjust for voluntary leaves of absence because of COVID. When students are actually dropping out or forced to take academic leave, it does reflect on the school. This is not the case here. HY made it incredibly easy to take time off. The fact that so many students chose to do so only reflects how important HY students value their on campus/ in class experience. That’s a plus not a minus in my book.