Texas Achieves 60.9 Percent Six-Year College Graduation Rate, Up from 59.3 Percent since 2015

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board sent this bulletin at 02/28/2018 01:10 PM CST
 60x30TX PlanHaving trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

 

Please see attachment for the list of graduation rates by institution.

Austin, Texas, Feb. 28, 2018 — The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board announced today that Texas public universities achieved a 60.9 percent statewide, six-year student graduation rate, a 1.6 percent increase since 2015 when the 60x30TX strategic plan for higher education was announced.

“At nearly 61 percent, our six-year graduation rate for public universities is the highest ever. To put that in perspective, it was less than 50 percent in 2000 when Texas launched the Closing the Gaps by 2015 plan. There are now 16 public universities with a six-year graduation rate above 50 percent versus only seven in 2000,” said Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes.

With the 60x30TX plan, Texas aims to award a total of 6.4 million certificates or degrees by 2030. The plan also sets targets for Hispanic, African American, male, and economically disadvantaged completers.

“The 60.9 percent achievement is even more encouraging because graduates with Pell grants increased 8.8 percentage points since 2015, which means a greater number of economically disadvantaged students are completing college,” Commissioner Paredes said. “We need to focus on aligning state funding with 60x30TX by partially funding universities for the graduates they produce, and providing twice as much funding for at-risk students compared to non-at-risk students. Texas has a youthful population, which is a huge economic advantage for the state, but only if we educate our young people who are mostly poor and largely Latino. The rate of improvement in the college graduation rate moves us forward in meeting the 60x30TX goals and preparing our young people to meet anticipated workforce needs.”

According to a June 2016 report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, 65 percent of all jobs in the United States likely will require a bachelor’s degree by 2025.


###