FAYETTEVILLE -- A record-high six-year graduation rate of 64.5 percent for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville means the campus is heading in the right direction, Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said.
But he emphasized that increasing the rate to "the level where we want to be" will require working harder through outreach -- including the development of a new student success center -- and doing more to ensure students continue at UA after their freshman year.
"I'd love a graduation rate that approaches 80 percent," said Steinmetz, UA's leader since Jan. 1. But "it will take a while to get there," he added.
State leaders, including Gov. Asa Hutchinson, have emphasized the importance of increasing the post-secondary educational attainment of Arkansans, citing the need for an educated workforce to help the economy.
UA's graduation rate increased by two percentage points for first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students. Data released Friday for students who entered UA in the fall of 2010 showed an uptick compared with the 62.5 percent six-year graduation rate for students who first entered in fall 2009.
Over the past 10 years, UA's six-year graduation rate has mostly been on the rise. Among first-time, full-time, degree-seeking freshmen entering in 2000, 55.5 percent earned a degree within six years.
Steinmetz attributed the most recent increase in part to university efforts but also to a rise in the academic qualifications of incoming students, which he said "is plateauing" as the school reaches a comfort level with the quality of students admitted.
He said a new student success center, which may be at a single site or involve collaboration at multiple campus locations, along with student data analytics "will be the next step in really improving these [graduation rate] numbers."
UA began this semester using data tools from Austin, Texas, based Civitas Learning, Steinmetz said. The university signed a two-year, $396,846 deal with the company in 2015, with officials at the time saying that data can help educators intervene more quickly to help students.
In announcing the graduation rate, UA also noted that students who lived in university housing their freshmen year had a six-year graduation rate of 66.8 percent, higher than the 47.6 percent rate for students living off-campus as freshmen.
The university requires most freshmen to live on campus and is seeking to build two new dorms that could open in fall 2019 that would house primarily first- and second-year students.
Steinmetz said a key to improving graduation rates is boosting the percentage of students returning after their freshmen year to 85 to 90 percent.
The 64.5 percent rate did not impress some students.
"I thought it would have been a little higher," said Michael Chrietzberg, a senior studying biology.
Hayley Barrows, a senior set to graduate in December, said affordability is a concern for students.
"The tuition rate, a lot of people can't afford it," said Barrows. UA System trustees in May approved a 3.5 percent increase in tuition and fees for the Fayetteville campus, with the yearly cost -- not including other expenses like room and board -- now totaling $8,820 for a typical course load.
Advancing student success is one of eight guiding priorities identified by UA under Steinmetz' leadership, and he called it the most important of the group in a talk Friday at a meeting of UA System trustees. He told trustees that need-based scholarships are a "critical component" of helping students succeed academically.
Steinmetz also told trustees about plans to create a "world-class student discovery and academic success center" that would help recruit students and support them to graduate "on time." UA's four-year graduation rate for students entering in 2010 was 42.3 percent, according to the university, also a record for as long as the university has been tracking the rate.
Comprehensive information for other schools in Arkansas has not been released for students who entered as freshmen in fall 2010, but UA has in the past had the highest graduate rate among four-year public universities.
However, UA has lagged behind some peer schools in nearby states. Several schools, including Texas A&M University with a graduation rate of 79 percent for its 2009 cohort, have had higher graduation rates compared with UA.
Among schools reporting six-year graduation rates for their 2010 cohorts, Louisiana State University reported a 65.5 percent graduation rate. A University of Missouri spokesman said that school's six-year graduation rate is 68.2 percent.
Metro on 11/12/2016