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