Student Achievement Data

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

As a growing research powerhouse committed to life-enhancing discovery and innovative instruction, The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) has selected the following measures of student achievement:

• six-year graduation rates for first-time in college students (FTIC),
• baccalaureate and master's degrees awarded,
• doctoral degrees awarded,
• licensure and certification examination pass rates,
• baccalaureate graduates employed and/or enrolled in a graduate program or professional school in Texas, and 
• doctoral post-graduation employment.

Targets and rationale for each measure are detailed below. 

6-YEAR GRADUATION RATES FOR FTIC STUDENTS

Graduation rates at UTA are expected to be at or above statewide levels. The expectation set forth in the University's current strategic plan is a six-year, same institution graduation rate of greater than 60 percent by year 2023-24. The institution’s target is based on IPEDS data and methodology and six-year graduation rate trends of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB). The table below demonstrates the University's progress in increasing this measure over the past five years

**preliminary data

Source: IPEDS data 

DEGREES AWARDED

The THECB’s previous strategic plan, Closing the Gaps by 2015, established institutional targets for overall bachelor’s degrees awarded by Texas public institutions of higher education. UTA's Closing the Gaps targets for 2015 and 2020 were 6,000 and 6,500 baccalaureate degrees awarded, respectively. As of 2016, UTA successfully met and surpassed the 2015 target by 120 percent. 

The THECB’s Texas Higher Education Strategic Plan: 2015-2030, 60X30TX, has established the overarching goal that by 2030, at least 60 percent of Texans ages 23-34 will have a certificate or degree. To meet that 60X30TX goal, UTA has set the following targets for baccalaureate and master’s total combined degrees awarded as follows: for 2020, 12,500 degrees awarded; for 2025, 13,500 degrees awarded; and for 2030, 14,500 degrees awarded.

The THECB's Closing the Gaps target for doctoral degrees awarded by 2015 at UTA was 160. UTA has also met and surpassed this target by 135 percent as of 2015 with 216 doctoral degrees awarded. UTA’s Strategic Plan 2025 established a new doctoral degree production target of more than 250 doctoral degrees awarded in year 2020. The selected target and UTA’s progress toward it are in line with the THECB emerging research institution peer group for Texas public universities.

**Preliminary

Source: Coordinating Board Metric 009, fall 2022 Global Report)

 

LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION EXAM PASS RATES

Licensure and certification exam pass rates are evaluated through national and statewide comparisons.

Athletic Training

The Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer (BOC) first-time pass rates for UTA are expected to be at or above 90%, a target established because it is high and significantly above the program     accreditor requirement. BOC exam pass rates are reported and monitored by the BOC and the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). UTA’s first-time BOC pass rates for the past 7 years have consistently remained above national averages.  The data may be used by the program to look at the domain breakdown to see where students may benefit from enhanced instruction, to more deeply examine the course in which the students review for the exam, or review the capstone exam which is designed to be similar to the BOC. 

Athletic Training First-Time BOC Pass Rates
Year	2015-2016	2016-2017	2017-2018	2018-2019	2019-2020	2020-2021	2021-2022
UTA	89%	100%	94%	94%	88%	100%	100%
National	82.7%	83.6%	89.3%	77.8%	77.6%	61.6%	77.2%

NOTE: BOC data for UTA retrieved 6/16/22 from the CAATE, and national data retrieved 6/16/22 from the BOC.

Education

Performance standards for accredited educator preparation programs (EPP) are outlined in #229.4">Texas Administrative Code Rule 229.4 subsection (a.) Texas Administrative Code Rule 229.4 expects pass rates of EPP candidates to be at or above 80 percent for the academic year. Pass rates for UTA are also compared to and expected to be at or above statewide levels. Data shows that UTA students have consistently exceeded these targets.

Education Certification Examination Pass Rates
Year	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
UTA	93%	93%	93%	96%	92%	95%	96%
Texas	95%	95%	95%	91%	90%	95%	91%

Source: Educator Certification Online System (data retrieved October 17, 2022)

Nursing

The National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) pass rates for UTA are expected to be at or above the nationwide pass rate. Licensure examination pass rates for nursing programs in Texas are reported and monitored by the Texas Board of Nursing (TBN) and a program-specific accrediting agency, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), in accordance with Texas Administrative Code Title 22, Part 11, Chapter 215, Rule §215.4 Professional Nursing Education Approval. CCNE requires a pass rate of at least 80 percent for program accreditation. UTA’s NCLEX pass rates for the past seven years far exceeded the CCNE threshold and have consistently remained above nationwide averages.

NOTE: Source: Texas Board of Nursing (data retrieved October 14, 2022) for UTA pass rates and National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) (data retrieved on October 14, 2022) for national pass rates

 

BACCALAUREATE GRADUATES EMPLOYED AND/OR ENROLLED IN A GRADUATE PROGRAM OR PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL IN TEXAS

Post-baccalaureate employment and/or graduate program enrollment are evaluated through statewide comparisons. The expected level of achievement is that the institution will be at or near statewide levels. UTA has successfully maintained post-baccalaureate enrollment and/or employment rates near state levels. 

Post-baccalaureate employment and/or graduate program enrollment in Texas
Fiscal Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Graduation Year	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
UTA	75.1%	73.5%	72.4%	72.8%	74.6%
Texas	75.8%	74.9%	74.1%	74.8%	75.1%

Baccalaureate graduates’ employment/enrollment status: The percentage of graduates employed in the fourth quarter of the calendar year after graduation and/or enrolled in a Texas institution in the following fall after graduation.                                                                

Source: Texas Public Higher Education Almanac.

DOCTORAL POST-GRADUATION EMPLOYMENT

Post-graduation doctoral student employment is evaluated through comparison with other high research institutions (HRI). The expected level of achievement is that UTA will be at or above the percentage of other HRIs.

The table below presents the most recent data from the Survey of Earned Doctorates showing the percent of UTA graduates who found employment in different sectors of the workplace (postdoctoral fellowships, associateships, and traineeships are excluded). It also shows employment trends for doctoral students graduating from HRIs and for all doctoral graduates regardless of type of institution. 

The types of placements and the percentages of UTA graduates who obtained those placements compare favorably with the placement data on graduates from other HRIs and all other doctoral institutions. UTA doctoral students have good success finding employment immediately upon graduation and are as or more competitive for jobs in most sectors of the job market compared to other doctoral graduates.

Employment sector of doctorate recipients with definite post-graduation employment commitments for The University of Texas at Arlington and comparison institutions: Academic Year 2020*

* Data presented cover doctorate recipients who received their degrees between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020.

Source: National Science Foundation (NSF) Survey of Earned Doctorates (data retrieved November 2022).