Strayer University - Faculty and Students

Faculty and Students

In 2003, it was reported that more than half the courses at Strayer University were taught by full-time professors holding the highest level degree in their area. The remaining courses were taught by adjunct professors, who were generally professionals with "real-world experience" in their field. In 2012, a United States Senate committee reported that, as of 2010, 83 percent of Strayer's 2,471 faculty members were employed part-time.

Strayer University's total number of students is approximately 51,000. According to the university, two thirds of Strayer's students are women and over half are African American or Hispanic. Since the early 2000s, Strayer University has had a high proportion of minority students. The college has had more women students than men since the late 1990s. The average age of students at the college is approximately 33, and the majority work full-time. Many students receive financial assistance from federal government financial aid programs or education assistance programs operated by the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; U.S. federal government sources accounted for 84.9% of Strayer's 2010 revenue. In addition, about one-quarter of students have tuition assistance from their employers.

Strayer has higher rates of student retention than other for-profit schools. Among students first enrolled in 2008-9, by mid-2010 slightly less than one-third had withdrawn without completing their degree programs. Withdrawal percentages ranged from 17.9% for master's degree students to 48.8% for students seeking an associate's degree. In 2011 the Washington Post claimed that Strayer had a 15% graduation rate, listing it among the lowest college graduation rates in the Washington, D.C., area.