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Student Achievement
Auburn University Montgomery (AUM) evaluates success concerning student achievement consistent with its mission in all of its online and face-to-face degree programs. From the most comprehensive measures used across the university, such as graduation rates, and retention rates, to academic, college, and department measures, such as standardized testing, the university regularly and carefully monitors student success and achievement for all levels of students and all modalities, against the mission of the University.
The measures that are used to indicate the achievements of all students at Auburn University at Montgomery include:
AUM monitors retention and graduation rates in keeping with its mission to “provide quality and diverse educational opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate level.” In addition, the mission of AUM is the basis for AUM’s core value, “promotes a student-centered experience.” Reports are provided to Enrollment Management on incoming students with information showing indicators of quality, source, ethnicity, and age for both freshmen and transfers.
Retention by First-Time, Full-Time Freshman Cohort
AUM tracks the retention of first-time, full-time (FTFT) freshman. FTFT focuses on students who have never taken college courses on a full-time basis who are seeking bachelor’s degrees, and does not include students who have already attended another postsecondary institution.
Retention is tracked from one fall semester to the next. Thus, these retention rates reflect year-to-year retention per cohort (e.g., the Fall 2019 retention rate is those students who retained from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020. The following graphs represent the retention rates for the FTFT cohorts.
In addition to the Freshman Cohort retention rate, AUM also disaggregates the retention rate according to gender and ethnicity. The table below shows these rates for the 2023 Cohort.
Fall 2023 Freshman Cohort
Initial Head Count | # Retained | % Retained | |
---|---|---|---|
Total | 408 | 276 | 68% |
Male | 162 | 112 | 69% |
Female | 246 | 164 | 67% |
US Non-Resident | 17 | 17 | 100% |
Alaskan/American Indian | 1 | 1 | 100% |
Asian | 22 | 13 | 59% |
Black or African American | 161 | 105 | 65% |
Hispanic/Latino | 9 | 8 | 89% |
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Island | 0 | 0 | - |
White | 166 | 11 | 7% |
Two or more races | 29 | 19 | 66% |
Unspecified | 3 | 2 | 67% |
Graduation by First-Time, Full-Time Freshman Cohort
As with retention rates, AUM also monitors graduation rates for its FTFT student population. The following graph depicts AUM’s 6-year graduation rates for the period of 2013-2017, as these are the current cohorts in which students have had six years to graduate. AUM uses the same graduation rate method as reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
Degree Completions
In keeping with AUM’s mission to provide “quality and diverse education opportunities,” continued growth and successful matriculation were set as a threshold, to emphasize AUM’s identified core value of “commitment to constant improvement.” Degree completions for AUM have increased over the last five academic years, as indicated by the table below, but require continued monitoring. The thresholds of success or goals were set in the 2019-2024 Strategic Plan. Degree completion data is published on the Office of Institutional Effectiveness website for each degree year.
Completions by Academic Year
Academic Year | # of Completions |
---|---|
2018-2019 | 872 |
2019-2020 | 961 |
2020-2021 | 1,062 |
2021-2022 | 1,010 |
2022-2023 | 1,261 |
Employment Rates
The School of Nursing in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences reports a job placement rate for non-registered nurse students receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree of 80% as reported within 12 months of program completion; registered nurse students in the BSN program have 100% employment. Students graduating from the Medical Laboratory Sciences program in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences have a job placement rate of 100%.
College and Department Student Achievement
College of Education
For teacher education candidates, a passing score on all Praxis II tests required for specific licensure areas must be submitted to the Certification Office before internship placement. Two program areas exempt from this COE policy requirement include Instructional Leadership and School Counseling master-level candidates. Candidates in exempt programs who do not pass Praxis II tests are issued an “IP” in a course during their final term until a passing score is earned. Threshold of Success – all students preparing for internship must pass Praxis II. College of Education Praxis II Pass Rates, by Department (All Departmental Programs).
College of Education PRAXIS II Pass Rates
Year | Counselor, Leadership, and Special Education | Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology | Kinesiology |
---|---|---|---|
2018-2019 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
2019-2020 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
2020-2021 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
2021-2022 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
2022-2023 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
The AUM School of Nursing (SON) demonstrates program effectiveness by preparing students for achievement on the NCLEX-RN® examination. The SON benchmark for the NCLEX-RN ® examination is 80% or higher for first-time test takers (first-time and repeaters who pass) over the three most recent calendar years. This definition is also consistent with the Alabama Board of Nursing. AUM has met the benchmark in four of the last five years. It should be noted the 65.98% pass rate in 2021 is due in no small part to the presence of COVID-19 and the requirement to pivot to completely online classes coupled with the inability of students to attend clinical rotations.
NCLEX-RN® Examination Pass Rates
Calendar Year | AUM Pass Rate |
---|---|
2019 | 93.33% |
2020 | 86.32% |
2021 | 65.98% |
2022 | 84.82% |
2023 | 91.25% |
The SON continues to engage in a comprehensive process to examine student performance throughout the program in relation to NCLEX-RN® scores. An example of recent program improvements includes the following: increase in admission GPA from 2.5 to 2.75, provide a mandatory NCLEX-RN ® review session for all senior students, required remediation in all courses, review of exam blueprints, increase the use of simulation, and faculty-supervised open nursing laboratory skills sessions.
Medical Laboratory Science
Employers of Medical Laboratory Science students expect that they have passed the American Society for Clinical Pathology certification exam. From 2018-2023, the table shows most Medical Laboratory Science students have passed the test. Students who have taken the program online have performed exceptionally well over these years. To ensure that the percentage of all students who take the exam is maximized, program administrators have made curricular changes to better prepare certification candidates. Some changes include the addition of a comprehensive review course and weekly exams, the addition of molecular techniques in the MLS courses, and more test items involving higher levels of learning have been introduced. The threshold of success for Medical Laboratory Science is for all graduates to pass the MLS Board of Certification Exam. As the table below shows, AUM has exceeded the National and University-Based Program rates over the last 6 years except for one year.
Medical Laboratory Science Board Certification Exam Pass Rates
Year | AUM Pass Rates | University-Based Programs | National |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | 94% | 83% | 82% |
2020 | 96% | 80% | 81% |
2021 | 95% | 76% | 76% |
2022 | 71% | 75% | 76% |
2023 | 77% | 76% | 76% |
College of Business - Assessment of Program Curriculum
The College of Business administers the general business knowledge exam or ETS Major Field Test to assess the core business knowledge of graduating seniors. Beginning in the fall of 2015, the college began benchmarking the knowledge of our students with over 400 other colleges and universities across the country. The exam is given to all graduating seniors in the fall and spring semesters. The threshold of success is to remain at the national average of scores. The past five years have shown that 53% of business students have scored at or above the national average on the ETS in both face-to-face and online classes.
Individual AUM College of Business Student Scores on the ETS Major Field Test
Face-to-Face | Online | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Academic Year | N | % Above | % At | % Below | N | % Above | % At | % Below |
2018-2019 | 47 | 13% | 43% | 45% | 43 | 7% | 40% | 53% |
2019-2020 | 31 | 19% | 42% | 39% | 61 | 7% | 48% | 46% |
2020-2021 | 43 | 12% | 26% | 63% | 51 | 10% | 55% | 35% |
2021-2022 | 25 | 8% | 44% | 48% | 51 | 12% | 41% | 47% |
2022-2023 | 49 | 10% | 51% | 39% | 44 | 2% | 41% | 57% |