Abstract
The United States Department of Agriculture and others have identified the need for educated agriculturalists. Given the financial constraints of most intitutions, it is important that decision makers are strategic in our programming. This study offers a rigorous and systematic approach to assess programmatic needs in three segments. Using Colorado State University (CSU) as a case study for this systematic assessment, CSU was found to not represent the state it serves, Colorado. Further, statistically significant opportunity gaps were found for gender, Pell eligibility, first generation status, residency and minority students. Finally, the first-year retention, four-year graduation rate and six-year graduation rate predictive models provided evidence for program investment to support first generation, minority and resident students. Of note, non-minority students were found to be 1.78 times more likely to graduate in four years than were minority students. Minority students were 53% less likely to graduate than majority students in six years. First generation students were less likely than non-first generation students to graduate in six years and residents were more likely to graduate than non-residents of the state within the six-year time frame.
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