8.1 Student Achievement [CR]

The institution identifies, evaluates, and publishes goals and outcomes for student achievement appropriate to the institution’s mission, the nature of the students it serves, and the kinds of programs offered. The institution uses multiple measures to document student success.

Non-Compliance

The institution has identified seven criteria for student achievement: enrollment, retention, graduation, placement, licensure and accreditation, student portfolios, and student engagement. The institution evaluates data associated with these criteria through monitoring of its strategic plan and the Louisiana Performance Accountability System. Sources of data evaluated include both longitudinal institutional data and that collected via standardized instruments (e.g., exit exams, NSSE). The institution publishes its student achievement criteria and data on a Student Achievement webpage.

Whereas extensive data on student achievement is provided, the institution did not address the student completion indicator reported to SACSCOC. It appears that the institution has identified IPEDS as its preferred measure of undergraduate student degree completion success, which the report discusses with respect to LAPAS reports. However, the peer group that it uses for benchmarking and comparison was not identified in the Compliance Certification.

iNSTITUTION’S rESPONSE

Student Completion Indicator Reported to SACSCOC

In compliance with federal regulations, institutions are required to define the student completion indicator to be used when reporting student achievement outcomes to SACSCOC. UL Lafayette has adopted the IPEDS “Traditional” Overall Graduation Rate as its student completion indicator.

Figure 8.1 – 1 (provided by SACSCOC from the 2018 SACSCOC Annual Meeting President’s Day Session – “SACSCOC Study on Graduation Rates”) identifies the indicator options available to institutions to track institutional completion outcomes:

Figure 8.1 – 1: SACSCOC Completion Rate Indicator Options

UL Lafayette tracks first-time/full-time students against a six-year undergraduate graduation rate using the IPEDS “traditional” overall graduation rate.

The tables below present UL Lafayette’s completion indicator, the IPEDS “traditional” overall graduation rate, against the associated completion rates of its IPEDS peer group, for the most recent three years available.

Table 8.1 – 1: UL Lafayette and Comparison Peer Groups’ Completion Indicator, Fall 2012 Cohort

Institution Name	Graduation rate Total Cohort	Graduation rate within 4 years	Graduation rate within 5 years	Graduation rate within 6 years
Portland State University	49	21	41	49
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	41	26	37	41
The University of Montana	46	27	46	50
The University of Texas at Arlington	49	23	43	49
The University of Texas at El Paso	39	15	32	39
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	48	19	41	48
University of Massachusetts-Boston	48	25	42	48
University of Massachusetts-Lowell	63	38	59	63
University of Memphis	48	22	41	48
University of Nevada-Reno	58	29	52	58
University of South Dakota	58	40	54	58
University of Southern Mississippi	49	27	45	49
University of Toledo	47	24	43	47
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	44	18	37	44
Wichita State University	47	21	40	47
Wright State University-Main Campus	39	20	34	39

Table 8.1 – 2: UL Lafayette and Comparison Peer Groups’ Completion Indicator, Fall 2011 Cohort

Institution Name	Graduation Rate Total Cohort	Graduation rate within 4 years	Graduation rate within 5 years	Graduation rate within 6 years
Portland State University	49	21	42	49
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	40	23	37	40
The University of Montana	46	29	45	50
The University of Texas at Arlington	50	22	42	50
The University of Texas at El Paso	41	14	32	41
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	44	15	36	44
University of Massachusetts-Boston	48	21	42	48
University of Massachusetts-Lowell	60	39	56	60
University of Memphis	43	19	36	43
University of Nevada-Reno	55	26	48	55
University of South Dakota	55	39	54	57
University of Southern Mississippi	47	26	42	47
University of Toledo	41	22	38	42
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	41	15	34	41
Wichita State University	48	22	40	47
Wright State University-Main Campus	36	19	32	36

Table 8.1 – 3: UL Lafayette and Comparison Peer Groups’ Completion Indicator, Fall 2010 Cohort

Institution Name	Graduation rate Total Cohort	Graduation rate within 4 years	Graduation rate within 5 years	Graduation rate within 6 years
Portland State University	48	21	41	48
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	44	27	40	44
The University of Montana	45	25	42	48
The University of Texas at Arlington	48	21	40	48
The University of Texas at El Paso	39	15	31	39
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	45	16	37	45
University of Massachusetts-Boston	45	18	38	45
University of Massachusetts-Lowell	56	32	52	56
University of Memphis	42	17	35	42
University of Nevada-Reno	54	23	47	54
University of South Dakota	55	34	52	54
University of Southern Mississippi	45	23	40	45
University of Toledo	43	22	40	43
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	40	14	32	40
Wichita State University	46	22	40	46
Wright State University-Main Campus	36	19	31	35