Georgia State’s graduation rate was at an all time high for 2013 and is expected to continue to rise, according to a university report.
The university graduated 1,500 more students per year since 2008, according to the report. The 2013 graduation rate rose to 53 percent compared to 2003’s rate of 32 percent—a 21 percent increase in the last decade.
The report additionally highlights a lack of Georgia State student success from 10 years ago. According to the report, Georgia State’s institutional graduation rate stood at 32 percent.
“In 2013, as a result of a campus-wide commitment to student success and more than a dozen innovative programs implemented over the past several years, Georgia State’s achievement gap is gone,” the report states. “This past two years alone, [the graduation rate] has climbed 5.1 points—reaching a new record of 53.1 percent—and it is on pace to increase another 2 to 3 points next fall.”
All-time highs
Pell grant recipients graduated at less than half the rate than those who did not receive the same financial aid option, according to the report.
“All of these numbers set all-time highs for Georgia State. Pell students now are as successful as non-Pell students. The total number of degrees conferred annually increased in the past year from 6,901 to 7,365, up 7 percent, setting another institutional record,” the report states.
In 2011, the state of Georgia partnered with Complete College America, a nonprofit initiative created to significantly increase the number of college credential holders and to close gaps for traditionally under-served populations, according to Education Advisory Board’s website.
“Each state-funded institution was forced to implement a plan to measure outcomes and student success. Georgia is also among a number of states who have transitioned to to performance-based funding—so revenues are increasingly tied to success metrics, the number of degrees conferred and the number of students who reach certain success markers within their college careers,” the Education Advisory Board website states.
New programs and initiatives
Timothy Rennick, vice provost and vice president for enrollment management and student success, said the university created programs to decrease the amount of student dropouts.
“The administration has created a range of different programs to try to help students with some of their biggest stumbling blocks,” he said.
These programs are designed to help students pass math and other difficult courses so they can continue to maintain good academic standing.
“This is about choosing the right major, holding on to the Hope scholarship if one has it and finding the funding to stay enrolled,” he said.
The University’s revitalized plans in 2012 geared toward student success highlights major initiatives taken by Georgia State to increase graduation rates, according to the report.
“It enables us to do simple things such as warn students when they register for courses that don’t apply to their majors, but it also allows us to help students choose majors and courses that better fit their abilities,” Rennick said.
2012 initiative plans included:
- Doubling the amount of need/merit based scholarships
- Continued implementation of the 2011 Panther Retention Grant program
- Decreasing the negative effects of hope scholarship loss, overhaul systems of academic advising
- Redesigning courses with high drop/withdraw rates
- Expansion of supplemental instruction
- Creation of summer-success program for at-risk freshman students
- Increasing enrollment numbers of Freshman Learning Communities (FLCs)
New advisement system
In 2012, Georgia State began the Graduation Progression Success (GPS) Advising system employing technology to aid advisers in tracking every student on a day-to-day basis using predictive analysis, according to the report.
Jazmyn Fritz, spring 2014 neuroscience graduate, said she remembers emails sent by her adviser during her junior year about slipping grades.
“I had the hope scholarship all four years of college. When I was about to lose the hope scholarship, I had so much going on at that time I barely noticed,” Fritz said. “My adviser sent me an email regarding my grades and we literally sat down and came up with some really good time managing techniques.”
“I think the graduate increase is amazing!” Fritz continued. “Georgia State has grown exponentially, especially in the research departments. I see Georgia State doing big things in the future.”
Supplemental help for students
Darius Devlin, fall 2013 graduate with a B.S. in biological sciences, said his freshmen learning community, supplemental instruction and the LSAMP program contributed to his success as a student.
“Most important of all was my undergraduate mentor, Dr. Zehava Eichenbaum, who advised me on classes to take and assisted with planning my post-graduation plans—keeping me on track along the way, ” he said.
Dr. Laura Meyers, instructor of the freshman learning community (FLC), said it’s always exciting to meet the freshmen in the program and later cheer them on at graduations.
“You’re not alone. I’ll share resources, introduce you to people and support you in any way I can. I want them to meet me on the 50 yard line at Georgia Dome in four years,” she said.
Georgia State has been nationally recognized for their dramatic improvement graduation rates, according to a University release.
“Georgia State has gotten national attention in the last couple of years for our use of technology to help our faculty and staff be more effective in supporting students,” he said.
Rennick also said administration is working to use financial analytics to better predict the early warning signs for when students are getting into financial difficulties.
“We are developing a mobile-device platform to help send personalized messages about available support to students,” he said.
