Student Achievement
Overview
Georgia Southern University regularly evaluates student achievement at the institutional level through a number of measures and aligns these with the University’s Mission and Strategic Plan. These institutional measures and students’ achievement on these measures are presented below.
Retention Rates
First-year retention rates include students who enrolled at Georgia Southern University as full-time, first-time in college freshmen who are enrolled in the sophomore/second year.
Georgia Southern University First-Year Retention
Entering Cohort
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
77% | 81% | 81% | 82% | 81% | 80% |
Source: Georgia Southern University Fact Books
Goal: A first-year retention rate of 80%
Georgia Southern University Second-Year Retention
Entering Cohort
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
65% | 62% | 66% | 65% | 68% | 68% |
Source: Georgia Southern University Fact Books
Goal: A second-year retention rate of 69% to be reached by 2015 and maintained
Georgia Southern University Six-Year Graduation Rates
Entering Cohort
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
47% | 50% | 51% | 51% | 50% | 51% | 50% |
Source: Georgia Southern University Fact Books
Goal: A six-year graduation rate of 50%
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) has become one of the most broad-based annual surveys of undergraduates in the country and has been completed by nearly 1.5 million students at nearly 1,200 different institutions in the last decade (Pascarella, Seifert, & Blaich, 2008). Georgia Southern University administers the NSSE every three years and aligns items on the National Survey of Student Engagement with its Mission Statement. The University is committed to providing a “culture of engagement” and an environment that “promotes student growth and success” for the purpose of preparing a “diverse and select undergraduate and graduate student population for leadership and service as world citizens.” As such, Georgia Southern students’ responses to items related to leadership and service, as well as collaboration, integrity, lifelong learning, and wellness are compared to students’ responses from the University System of Georgia and other institutions classified similarly. Click here to view Georgia Southern University’s NSSE results for 2011 and 2014.
Goal: To maintain responses at or above USG mean.
Licensure and Certification Examinations
Licensure and certification examinations are additional institutional measures used to evaluate student achievement at Georgia Southern. Certain professions require graduates to achieve specific levels for employment. One requirement for teaching kindergarten through twelfth grade in the State of Georgia is earning a passing score on the relevant Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators (GACE) examination.
GACE Pass Rates
Specialization | 2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 |
Early Childhood Education | 97 | 99 | 100 | 98 | 96 | 99 |
Early Childhood/ Special Education | ____ | 99 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Middle Grades Language Arts | 100 | ____ | ____ | 93 | 100 | 91 |
Middle Grades Reading | 100 | 100 | 89 | 100 | 100 | ____ |
Middle Grades Mathematics | 100 | 100 | 100 | 95 | 100 | 100 |
Middle Grades Science | 93 | 96 | 100 | 96 | 97 | 90 |
Middle Grades Social Science | 86 | 88 | 90 | 100 | 92 | 90 |
Special Education Gen. Curriculum | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 92 | 100 |
Health and Physical Education | ____ | ____ | ____ | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Music Education | ____ | ____ | ____ | 100 | 92 | 100 |
Goal: 80% annual pass rate
Licensure examinations are used to track success of Georgia Southern’s nursing students. Upon meeting all degree requirements, nursing students must pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) before being eligible to enter practice.
Georgia Southern University NCLEX First Try Pass Rates
Year | Rate |
2013 | 95% |
2014 | 88% |
2015 | 84% |
2016 | 79% |
2017 | 89% |
2018* | 87% |
Source: School of Nursing
Goal: An 85% pass rate on the first try and to be above the average pass rate for graduation rates across the nation
*Note: Reflects first year of Armstrong/Georgia Southern consolidated program
Legislative Internship Appointments
Consistent with Georgia Southern’ mission statement to prepare our “student population for leadership and service as world citizens,” the University encourages legislative internships.
2013-2014 | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2017-2018 | |
Federal | 16 | 22 | 9 | 7 |
State | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
Total | 18 | 24 | 11 | 10 |
Goal: Seven to ten legislative internship appointments primarily in Washington D.C.
Source: Georgia Southern University Fact Books
Job Placement Rates
Job placement rates, in the discipline or closely-related discipline, are a recently added institutional indicator of student success.
Academic Program | 2014-2015 | 2015-2016 |
BA Anthropology | No Data | 88.6 |
BS Child and Family Development | No Data | 90 |
BS Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Design | No Data | 87 |
BS Interior Design | No Data | 91 |
BS Recreation | No Data | 90 |
BS Sociology | No Data | 88.6 |
BSN Nursing | No Data | 81.8 |
BSPH Health Education and Promotion | 59.1 | 59.2 |
DNP Doctor of Nursing Practice | No Data | 100 |
DrPH Public Health | 93.8 | 91 |
MA Spanish | No Data | 100 |
MHA Healthcare Administration | 75.6 | 100 |
MPH Public Health | 85.9 | 89.58 |
MSN Nurse Practitioner | No Data | 100 |
PhD Logistics/Supply Chain Management | 100 | 100 |
For Additional Information
Georgia Southern University Fact Books supply further details on a number of these measures and additional institutional, college, and departmental level information.
Last updated: 2/18/2022