UT’s 6-Year Graduation Rate Competitive With Tier 1 Peers’

By Tim Taliaferro in Promote & Protect, Special on July 20, 2011 at 12:07 pm

Six-Year Graduation Rates at Peer Universities

(Click graph to see larger. Source: U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. Data was gathered from students who enrolled in 2003.)

With reporting by Sam Bohmfalk

The six-year graduation rate at UT-Austin is ninth-best among Tier 1 peers of a similar size, according to U.S. Department of Education statistics.

Of the 21 public, Tier 1 universities, as defined by the Association of American Universities, with student populations of 30,000 or more, UT-Austin is tied for ninth in six-year graduation rates, at 81 percent. The University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are also at 81 percent.

Texas A&M, the only other public Tier 1 research university in Texas, is close behind, at 80 percent.

UC-Berkeley leads the national pack with a 90 percent six-year graduation rate, and, notably, Arizona State ranks last, at 56 percent a full 25 percentage points behind UT.

In recent months, officials from the UT System and the Board of Regents have looked at Arizona State as a model, even traveling to visit the campus in April.

The six-year graduation rate at UT-Austin has jumped 31 percent since 1983, and the flagship campus has by far the best four-, five-, and six-year graduation rates in the UT System.

Earlier this month, UT-Austin president Bill Powers announced the creation of a task force on graduation rates. Powers has floated a goal of 70 percent for the institution’s four-year graduation rate, which is currently at 52.1 percent. That number, however, has jumped 60 percent since 1994.

UT-Austin trails Illinois and Arizona by two percentage points, and Florida and Maryland by just one.

Related: 3 Ways UT Is Boosting Graduation Rates

Tags: arizona state, graduation rates, six-year graduation rate, ut austin