Texas A&M’s Four-Year Graduation Rate Steadily Moving Higher

As Aggies return to campus for the new school year, they find themselves part of a trend in which Texas A&M University’s record for graduating students within the traditional four years has steadily improved — with Texas A&M students now approaching a graduation rate within that timeframe twice that of the statewide average for public institutions, statistics show.

Texas A&M’s most recent four-year cycle (2005-09) reflects the university’s largest percentage gain for the 2000 decade, according to tabulations compiled by the Texas A&M Office of Institutional Studies and Planning.

Nearly half (49.8%) of the students in Texas A&M’s 2005 entering class received their degrees in 2009, university statistics show, whereas the statewide average is 27% for 2004-08, the latest period for which the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has published such figures.

The latest four-year calculation (2005-09) for Texas A&M is more than 13 percentage points higher than for its 2000 entering class (36.6% for 2000-04).

Almost 80 percent of Texas A&M students earn their undergraduate degrees within the six-year timeframe that is now widely considered the standard in higher education for assessing graduation rates, university officials note, while the statewide average for public universities in Texas is 57 percent, according to the Coordinating Board.

University officials pointed out the improving graduation rates come amid record enrollment for Texas A&M, including recent freshman classes that include more than 8,000 students and are among the largest in the nation. Texas A&M’s total enrollment last fall was a record 48,702, and officials are anticipating a slight increase when the new school year begins Monday (Aug. 30).

Texas A&M has historically been the leader among public universities in Texas for both graduation and retention rates, the latter reflecting the percentage of students staying in school and progressing toward graduation.

Texas A&M officials attribute the university’s improved graduation rates during the first decade of the new century to several recently instituted factors.

“Several efforts at Texas A&M over the past few years have aimed to increase student persistence and timely graduation,” noted Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies Pamela Matthews. “The expectation of 15-hour semester course loads and flat-rate tuition, university studies degrees, increased attention to advisor development and support, and intentional programming for the first-year experience are all likely contributors to our students’ improved graduation rates.”

Matthews explained that under the flat-rate policy, all regularly enrolled undergraduate students pay for tuition at a rate equal to that for 15 semester credit hours, regardless of whether they enroll for 12 or 18 hours, for example. That gives the students more financial incentive to enroll for more than a minimum number of hours, thus moving them more rapidly toward graduation and allowing the university to make more efficient use of its resources, including facilities, she added.

Graduating more students within the four-year time frame is a major goal for the university as well as for legislators and other state officials viewing higher education statewide. They cite additional costs — to the state and to the students and their parents — for prolonging the time to earn degrees, noting the shorter timeframe translates into more efficient use of facilities and other resources. Also, they emphasize the desirability of getting more college-educated young men and women in the workforce in the shortest possible period of time to help stimulate the economy.

Women at Texas A&M fare better than men in graduating in four years — 61.3 percent vs. 37.9 percent for the 2005-09 period, in averaging out at 49.8 percent for the total entering class of 2005. The gap closes when using the six-year basis. For the 2003 entering class, women still led in the six-year graduation rate, with 83.1 percent, but men are closer, at 76 percent.