TBR to Start Tracking Progression Rates along with Graduation

The Tennessee Board of Regents is looking for a more favorable measure than graduation rates. They want to track the progress of students instead.

The governor and legislature have both prodded higher education officials to improve graduation rates as low as 27% at Austin Peay State University.

TBR Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Paula Short says a full-time student who starts taking classes part-time looks like a dropout in the current system. Students aiming for a certificate, she says, also count against the university or community college.

“Not all of our students even enter our institutions to graduate with a degree. They’re there for a variety of reasons, and we’re not really being fair to ourselves to measure only graduation rates.”

What will be called “student progression” would measure who is still enrolled in classes from one fall to the next. The new calculation is part of a five-year strategic plan being considered by the Board of Regents that also has as one of its goals increasing the number of students receiving 4-year diplomas.

Using “student progression,” Tennessee’s community colleges go from a 12% graduation rate to a 43% progression rate.

TBR Collaborating with UT System over Core Classes

The Board of Regents has begun working with the University of Tennessee to establish a core set of classes that can easily transfer between the two systems.

Higher education officials have been instructed by the governor and state legislature to cooperate, especially on the first 60 hours taken by freshmen and sophomores.

Students still couldn’t transfer directly into UT Knoxville. Vice Chancellor Paula Short says she doesn’t like it, but they have to meet increased admission requirements for the flagship campus.

“But that’s in the law and there’s really not anything we can do about that. But we’re going to, beyond that, come to an agreement with UT on the 60 hours.”

Short says Board of Regents universities and community colleges already share 41 hours of core classes that can easily transfer within the system.