The CMU Board of Trustees plans to raise the University’s freshman-to-sophomore retention rate from 77 percent to 80 percent by 2019. Trustee Steven Johnson suggested the first step to reaching the 80 percent mark is introducing new organizations and programs for new students to help them get acquainted to campus life. The board also determined that CMU currently boasts an 18 percent graduation rate within four years, and a 53 percent graduation rate within six years. Both numbers fall in the middle of Mid-American Conference universities.