The Facts

  • The six-year graduation rate at Texas universities is only 58.4%.
  • By 2020, 60% of jobs will require a career certificate or college degree.
  • Texas students gain only 2.9% of their civic knowledge during their college careers.
  • Undergraduates at Texas universities are below the national average in the number of history, government, and economics courses taken during college.

 

Recommendations

  • Institute reforms that tie university funding to student success results such as the number of degrees issued, learning outcomes (as measured by the Collegiate Learning Assessment) and employment outcomes five years after graduation.
  • Simultaneous with the above, encourage university regents to institute measurements of learning outcomes at the freshman and senior years, using the CLA.
  • Encourage university regents and other administrators to institute reforms that place more focus on teaching students basic American history, government, economics, and Western Civilization, whether through a standardized test or more course options/requirements.
  • Building on the foundation laid last year by HB 736 (Sec. 9), improve information systems by giving students input on: student academic performance, graduation rates, post-graduate earnings, percentage of classes taught by part-time faculty, and evidence of post-graduate earnings (from sites like PayScale.com, etc.). Make this information available on a statewide site with a common format, with the site to be administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.