Introduction

This dashboard provides summary statistics for the following student types:

  • Pell Grant Recipients – These are students who have been offered a Pell grant at least once while enrolled at Wake Forest University.

  • Non-Pell Grant Recipients – These are students who have never been offered a Pell grant while enrolled at Wake Forest University.

Note that only students who enrolled at WFU as first-time, full-time students are included in this dashboard.

Number of Students by Cohort

This table shows the number of students in each incoming cohort by Pell grant status.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 172 172 163 141 148 162 154 170 126 138
Non-Recipients 1058 1115 1121 1165 1201 1259 1205 1282 1285 1232

Retention Rates

First-Year Retention

This table shows first-year retention rates. A student is considered to have returned if they were enrolled on the census date (approximately five weeks into the semester) their second fall. Students on continuous enrollment status are not considered retained.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 97% 93% 96% 99% 96% 99% 94% 91% 98% NA
Non-Recipients 93% 93% 94% 94% 95% 94% 95% 94% 93% NA

Four-Year Graduation Rate

This table shows four-year graduation rates for those cohorts who have had an opportunity to graduate within a four-year window.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 78% 78% 84% 83% 81% 81% NA NA NA NA
Non-Recipients 85% 86% 87% 86% 87% 85% NA NA NA NA

Six-Year Graduation Rate

This table shows six-year graduation rates for those cohorts who have had an opportunity to graduate within a six-year window.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 87% 85% 93% 91% NA NA NA NA NA NA
Non-Recipients 88% 89% 90% 89% NA NA NA NA NA NA

Grade Point Average

This table shows average cumulative GPAs weighted by cumulative hours earned.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 3.32 3.31 3.39 3.40 3.44 3.44 3.54 3.44 3.41 3.42
Non-Recipients 3.49 3.53 3.55 3.58 3.60 3.63 3.71 3.70 3.68 3.64

Participation Rates

Please note that the COVID-19 pandemic may have negatively impacted some cohorts’ participation rates in the following activities due to limited opportunities in the spring of 2020 through the spring of 2021.

Pre-Orientation Participation

This table shows the percent of students who participated in any WFU pre-orientation program. Pre-Orientation data are only available for the fall 2017 cohort going forward. Pre-orientation programs were held virtually for the 2020 cohort, and they are excluded from this table.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients NA NA NA NA 28% 31% 29% NA 24% 33%
Non-Recipients NA NA NA NA 27% 29% 23% NA 25% 28%

Greek Participation

This table shows the percent of students who participated in Greek organizations during any semester while they were enrolled. Greek participation data do not include honor fraternities. Note that the majority of students who rush do so in the spring of their first year.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 30% 30% 33% 33% 30% 31% 32% 23% 23% NA
Non-Recipients 54% 53% 55% 55% 52% 51% 54% 61% 56% NA

Student WFU Employment

This table shows the percent of students who were employed by WFU during any semester while they were enrolled. Student employment data include work study participation or any other employment offered by Wake Forest University. Note that the more recent cohorts have had fewer terms during which to work.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 68% 78% 80% 78% 76% 68% 68% 60% 48% 28%
Non-Recipients 44% 48% 48% 46% 43% 43% 39% 27% 19% 6%

Study Abroad Participation

This table shows the percent of students who have studied abroad during any semester while they were enrolled. Study abroad data include both Wake Forest and non-Wake Forest programs and only reflect semester long programs. Note that most students study abroad during their junior year (typically 5th or 6th semester), and the most recent cohorts have had fewer opportunities to do so.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 36% 45% 53% 51% 41% 22% 26% 24% 8% NA
Non-Recipients 52% 57% 57% 63% 64% 17% 31% 49% 8% NA

Intramural Participation

This table shows the average number of intramural games played per term. Intramural data include all fall and spring terms in which the students are enrolled.

Student Type 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.7
Non-Recipients 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.3 0.9 1.2 0.7 0.6 0.9 1.1

Declared Majors & Minors

The tables in this section include all students who have declared majors and minors. The majors and minors counted in the tables are the students’ most recently declared programs.

Majors

This table shows the percent of students who have declared each major by student type. Note that since students can declare up to two majors, some students may appear twice in the table.

Minors

This table shows the percent of students who have declared each minor by student type. Note that since students can declare up to three minors, some students may appear up to three times in the data.

Demographics

Gender

This section details the trends in self-reported gender (binary) for the different student types by incoming cohort.

Student Type Gender 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients Female 52% 58% 52% 57% 57% 57% 57% 54% 63% 54%
Male 48% 42% 48% 43% 43% 43% 43% 46% 37% 46%
Non-Recipients Female 52% 52% 53% 53% 54% 50% 53% 57% 56% 55%
Male 48% 48% 47% 47% 46% 50% 47% 43% 44% 45%

Race and Ethnicity

This section details the trends in self-reported race and ethnicity for the different student types by incoming cohort. This section reflects race/ethnicity regardless of citizenship status.

Student Type Race/Ethnicity 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients American Indian / Alaska Native 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Asian 5% 12% 6% 6% 5% 4% 4% 8% 12% 12%
Black or African American 26% 27% 23% 30% 26% 28% 30% 30% 30% 24%
Hispanic / Latino 15% 15% 15% 15% 18% 22% 21% 26% 25% 30%
Race and Ethnicity Unknown 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1%
Two or More Races 5% 5% 4% 5% 7% 9% 10% 8% 5% 11%
White 51% 41% 51% 44% 45% 37% 34% 27% 29% 22%
Non-Recipients American Indian / Alaska Native 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Asian 8% 13% 14% 12% 12% 13% 12% 12% 12% 10%
Black or African American 3% 3% 4% 4% 5% 3% 3% 3% 2% 4%
Hispanic / Latino 6% 7% 5% 7% 6% 7% 7% 7% 8% 9%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Race and Ethnicity Unknown 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 2% 3%
Two or More Races 3% 2% 3% 3% 3% 4% 4% 4% 5% 7%
White 80% 74% 73% 74% 74% 73% 75% 73% 70% 67%

First-Generation Status

This section details the trends in first-generation status for the different student types by incoming cohort. First-generation status is identified during the application process whereby the students indicate if neither of their parents has earned a bachelor’s degree or greater.

Student Type Status 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients First-Generation 27% 33% 40% 31% 36% 41% 39% 51% 50% 61%
Not First-Generation 73% 67% 60% 69% 64% 59% 61% 49% 50% 39%
Non-Recipients First-Generation 4% 5% 5% 5% 4% 3% 5% 3% 5% 5%
Not First-Generation 96% 95% 95% 95% 96% 97% 95% 97% 95% 95%

Freshman Athlete Status

This section details the trends in freshman athlete status for the different student types by incoming cohort. A student is considered a freshman athlete if they are admitted to WFU on a scholarship as an athlete.

Student Type Status 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients Freshman Athlete 19% 16% 10% 13% 16% 15% 12% 11% 9% 6%
Not Freshman Athlete 81% 84% 90% 87% 84% 85% 88% 89% 91% 94%
Non-Recipients Freshman Athlete 8% 7% 9% 7% 7% 7% 6% 7% 6% 7%
Not Freshman Athlete 92% 93% 91% 93% 93% 93% 94% 93% 94% 93%

Region

This section details the trends in the region from which the students come for the different student types by incoming cohort. Geographic regions are defined by the United States Census Bureau. All nonresidents are considered “international” in this section.

Student Type Region 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Pell Grant Recipients Midwest 4% 5% 2% 4% 5% 5% 5% 5% 8% 13%
Northeast 15% 13% 14% 12% 17% 19% 14% 17% 24% 23%
South 79% 78% 81% 81% 75% 73% 77% 71% 66% 59%
West 2% 5% 2% 4% 3% 4% 4% 6% 2% 5%
Non-Recipients Midwest 7% 7% 7% 6% 6% 6% 8% 8% 8% 12%
Northeast 30% 30% 28% 30% 28% 29% 30% 29% 32% 30%
South 51% 46% 46% 46% 48% 47% 46% 46% 43% 43%
West 6% 6% 7% 6% 7% 6% 6% 8% 6% 6%
International 6% 11% 12% 12% 11% 12% 11% 9% 11% 9%