Student Achievement at the University of Dallas

The University of Dallas measures and evaluates student achievement data to support student success.  As part of institutional accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), we have an obligation to set thresholds and goals and monitor progress toward those goals.

RATIONAL FOR SELECTION OF METRICS 

A committee comprised of cross-campus representation selected metrics that  we note as important measures for evaluating student success. Three metrics were selected for Student Achievement: retention and graduation rates for first-time freshmen and time to degree for master's level students. SACSCOC requires all institutions to track graduation rates annually as part of our accreditation. 

Retention and graduation rate dashboards reflect criteria supported by federal compliance reporting standards under the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) which falls under the purview of the Department of Education. IPEDS collects a variety of data related to student, human resources, and finance. IPEDS provides a publicly available data source via the IPEDS Data Center, the College Navigator, and the College Affordability and Transparency Act. 

The committee setting the metrics, felt retention and graduation rates should be a focus for continuous improvement of student success. A focus on these metrics allow us to dig deeper into subgroups. We expect to modify these two metrics to include careful tracking of subpopulations.

POST GRADUATION OUTCOME RATES

The Office of Professional and Career Development (OPCD) collect information on the first destination of our students after graduation. OPCD tracks each class by calculating the percentage of undergraduates in a class who are either employed, enrolled in graduate programs, or seeking employment or underemployed. 

Targets were set for each class:

• Threshold for Success is set at less than 3%
• Minimum Threshold for Acceptability is set at less than 6% for those seeking employment or underemployed
• This threshold has been met 100% since the university began collecting this data with the 2014 class. 

As of December 2020, 93.2%% of the undergraduate class of 2020 reported a post-graduation outcome related to professional experiences, including employment, religious vocation and service, and graduate or professional school. To further explore post graduation outcomes data, follow the link below to the OPCD webpage.