The focus of this dissertation is on performance indicators—specifically, retention and graduation indicators—that impact allocation of the ever-dwindling public sources of money. Decreasing revenue trends make understanding the performance indicators that are often used to fund postsecondary institutions very important. There is a significant amount of literature on funding, types of funding, and performance indicators used in funding; however, there is very little literature on quantitative differences on standard performance indicators in 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions. The purpose of this study is to look at retention and graduation rates for part-time and full-time students in public institutions of higher education in the United States.

Retention and graduation rates for first-time full and part-time students from the Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data Systems (IPEDS), within the National Center for Educational Statistics, for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007, will be examined to determine if there are differences between two-year and four-year post secondary institutions.

Keywords: retention rates, graduation rates, community and/or technical colleges, universities, performance funding, appropriations