AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Better early academic advising of students and offering flat-rate summer tuition rates are among key proposals aimed at boosting four-year graduation rates at the University of Texas to 70 percent.
The university on Wednesday issued a 111-page report with dozens of proposals on how to dramatically improve graduation rates at the 50,000-plus student campus, where about half currently graduate in four years.
School President Bill Powers has said boosting the rate to 70 percent by 2016 should be a top goal for the university. Shortly after the report's release, Powers announced the school will have mandatory orientation for all incoming first-year students.
The report is the latest response to recent criticism of the University of Texas System and the Texas A&M University System by Gov. Rick Perry and conservative critics who questioned schools over research, teaching, cost and graduation rates.
Randy Diehl, dean of the University of Texas College of Liberal Arts and chairman of the task force that wrote the report, acknowledged the criticism and pressure from university regents "served as a stimulant for harder thinking on these issues."
According to the report, Texas has the highest four-year graduation rate among public universities in the state, but lags behind other top-level research institutions across the U.S. About 75 percent of Texas students graduate within five years and more than 80 percent graduate within six years.
The report noted that quicker graduation would help students and their families save money in tuition and living costs. It also would allow the university to bring in more new students every year.
"Timely graduation benefits every constituent in the educational chain," Powers said in a statement.
The report did not estimate the cost of the proposed changes. To reach Powers' 70 percent goal by 2016, changes will have to start with next fall's incoming freshmen class, Diehl said.
Top priorities include improving freshmen orientation to help them get quickly adjust to college-level academics and campus life, and improving academic advising to more quickly identify struggling students, Diehl said.
"We've discovered the best predictor of whether a student will graduate in four years is how well they do in their first year. Making sure they are successful early on is a very important part of this," Diehl said.
Flat-rate summer tuition would encourage more students to take more classes and push them toward timely graduation, Diehl said.
Other recommendations include creating easy-to-use online tools for students to track progress to graduation, and doing a better job helping students identify a major as soon as possible.
The report also recommends creating two new high-level administrative posts to implement to proposals.
Tom Lindsay of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based conservative think tank that helped fuel the criticism of Texas universities, said the school should be commended for its effort for early intervention for struggling students.
While 70 percent is a big jump, "I think they'll be helped by these measures," Lindsay said.
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