UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE AND CERTIFICATE PRODUCTIVITY AT ILLINOIS PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
Why examine degrees/certificates per 100 FTE?
“Degrees/Certificates per 100 FTE” has traditionally been used as an institutional productivity/ efficiency measure indicating how many postsecondary awards are conferred by a college in a year relative to the number of full-time equivalent students. As noted in the Aspen Institute’s report on using comparative information to improve student success (2014), the measure illustrates a college’s total “outputs” (degrees/certificates) relative to its total “inputs” (students). As a metric, degrees and certificates per 100 FTE takes into consideration all students including part-time and transfer students, two groups that traditionally are not included in the calculation of graduation rates. Graduation rates are typically calculated using cohorts of first-time/ full-time undergraduate students. As colleges can vary substantially in terms of the composition of their study body, first-time/full-time students may only represent a small proportion of the overall students; and therefore, graduation rates may not be the best measure of the overall performance of schools that focus more heavily on enrolling part-time students or students transferring from other colleges. As highlighted in previous IBHE analyses, the state of Illinois is the national leader in some metrics that are inclusive of transfer students and students that enroll part-time, such as the completion rates at four-year institutions among all community college students (IBHE, 2019).
It has been argued that productivity and efficiency metrics such as degrees per 100 FTE are most meaningful when shown in comparison to other institutions, as was done here (Aspen Institute, 2014). The current analysis compares each Illinois public university with the national average, as well as the average of its respective peers. The peers included in this analysis were purposefully selected to account for programmatic offerings and student body composition (see list).
How do Illinois Public Universities perform relative to their peers and all other public universities?
Specific to undergraduate degrees and certificates per 100 FTE, all Illinois public universities, except UIC and UIUC, outperformed their out-of-state peers. Illinois public universities, in aggregate, performed better than the national average (27.4 compared to 24.7) and the combined peer average (27.4 compared to 23.6). GSU, EIU, SIUC, NEIU and UIS had the highest number of undergraduate awards per 100 FTE and all conferred around 30 or more degrees per 100 FTE. NIU, CSU, and WIU also performed well above the national and peer averages.
It should be noted that in 2017, not a single Illinois public university awarded an undergraduate certificate of any length and only SIUC conferred associate degrees; therefore, nearly all (99.7%) the undergraduate degree/certificates awarded in 2017 were at the baccalaureate level. At the peer institutions, bachelor’s degrees accounted for a slightly lower proportion of total undergraduate degrees and certificates awarded (97.8%). In other words, the Illinois public universities, in aggregate, substantially outperformed the peer average even through nearly all the undergraduate awards the Illinois public universities conferred were bachelor’s degrees, which by default take longer to complete than certificate programs (some of which can be finished in less than a semester).
Data Source: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)-12-month FTE enrollment for 2017 and total degrees (Associate’s, Bachelor’s) and certificates (less than 1 year, 1 year to 2 years, 2 to 4 years) for 2017.
Work Cited:
Illinois Board of Higher Education. (2019). Illinois Proud: Completing College—A Comparative Profile of Illinois Higher Education. Springfield, IL. Retrieved from: https://www.ibhe.org/DataPoints/Illinois-Proud-2019-Completing-College.html
The Aspen Institute, College Excellence Program. (2014). Using Comparative Information to Improve Student Success. Washington, DC. Retrieved from: https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/files/content/docs/pubs/UsingComparativeInformationGuide.pdf
List of Peer Groups Selected by Each Illinois Public University
Chicago State University
Auburn University at Montgomery
Bowie State University
California State University,
Dominguez Hills
Coppin State University
CUNY Lehman College
Fayetteville State University
Framingham State University
Georgia College and State University
Jacksonville State University
New Jersey City University
Texas A & M International University
University of Houston – Clear Lake
University of North Alabama
Eastern Illinois University
Appalachian State University
College of Charleston
Eastern Washington University
Georgia Southern University
Kean University
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Murray State University
Saint Cloud State University
Sam Houston State University
University of North Carolina Wilmington
University of Northern Iowa
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Western Washington University
William Paterson University of New Jersey
Governors State University
Austin Peay State University
Bridgewater State University
California State University
San Marcos
CUNY Brooklyn College
Metropolitan State
University of Denver
Montclair State University
University of Baltimore
University of Houston – Clear Lake
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Michigan – Dearborn
University of Missouri – St. Louis
University of North Florida
Illinois State University
Ball State University
Bowling Green State University
Central Michigan University
Miami University
Old Dominion University
Portland State University
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Western Michigan University
Wichita State University
Northeastern Illinois University
Auburn University at Montgomery
California State University, Dominguez Hills
California State University, Stanislaus
CUNY Lehman College
Indiana University – Northwest
New Jersey City University
Purdue University Calumet
Texas A & M University – Corpus Christi
Northern Illinois University
Ball State University
Central Michigan University
Kent State University
Ohio University
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Toledo
Western Michigan University
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
East Carolina University
Kent State University
University of Louisville
University of Missouri – Kansas City
University of North Dakota
University of Northern Colorado
West Virginia University
Wright State University
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
East Tennessee State University
Grand Valley State University
Marshall University
Oakland University
University of Missouri – Kansas City
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
University of South Alabama
Western Carolina University
University of Illinois at Chicago
University at Buffalo
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Cincinnati
University of Connecticut
University of Louisville
University of South Florida
University of Utah
Virginia Commonwealth University
University of Illinois at Springfield
Auburn University at Montgomery
College of Charleston
Georgia College and State University
Lake Superior State University
Northern Michigan University
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
SUNY College at Brockport
University of South Dakota
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, San Diego
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Texas at Austin
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Western Illinois University
Appalachian State University
Central Washington University
Grand Valley State University
James Madison University
Montclair State University
Truman State University
University of Central Missouri
University of Nebraska at Kearney
University of Northern Iowa
University of Wisconsin – La Crosse
University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
University of Wisconsin – Whitewater
William Paterson University of New Jersey