ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF RECENT MSMU ALUMNAE/I

Transcription

1 ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF RECENT MSMU ALUMNAE/I Advanced Degrees Earned by MSMU Graduates (Classes of 2001 to 2012) Through a data-sharing agreement with the National Student Clearinghouse, Mount Saint Mary s University (MSMU) is able to identify where our alumnae pursue further education and whether they earned advanced degrees. Using the StudentTracker SM service at the Clearinghouse, we sought answers to the following questions. 1 At which institutions have our graduates pursued further study? What proportion of our recent graduates pursues further education? What proportion successfully earns advanced degrees? What trends do we see in terms of further education and degree attainment? MSMU ALUMNAE/I WHO EARNED TRADITIONAL BACCALAUREATE DEGREES Between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2012, MSMU awarded 2,636 traditional baccalaureate degrees. The single academic program to award the most baccalaureate degrees during this period was the Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, which awarded 706 degrees (or 27% of all traditional baccalaureate degrees). Given that the post-baccalaureate career and education plans for the BSN alumnae/i are distinct from those of their peers who earned non-nursing degrees, the academic achievements are reported separately below for each group. Academic Achievements of Non-Nursing Baccalaureate Degree Recipients Between 2001 and 2012, 1,930 students earned traditional non-nursing baccalaureate degrees at MSMU. By July 1, 2015, nearly half (47%) had pursued further education at a four-year institution and 30% had earned a degree or post-baccalaureate certificate. Most of the degrees earned were in four areas: 1) Social Work, Sociology, or Gerontology, 2) Education, 3) Psychology, or 4) Science, Medicine or Physical Therapy. As one would expect, the graduating classes with the highest rates of pursuing and earning advanced degrees were those that have had the most time in which to do this. In other words, the earlier classes (2001 and 2002) sought and earned degrees at higher rates than more recent classes (2011 and 2012). In order to control for the differences in time available to the graduating classes, and thereby identify meaningful trends over time, we established consistent timeframes for reporting subsequent enrollment and degree attainment. These timeframes were selected after examining enrollment-tracking records which indicated that most of these alumnae who pursued further education did so within three years of graduating and, of those who earned degrees, 63% did so within five years of graduating from MSMU and 89% did so within eight years of graduating. 2 The graph on the next page shows the proportion of each MSMU graduating class that pursued further education within three years and earned a degree (within 5 years and 8 years). We see that the proportion of alumnae who pursued further education within three years has been between 32% - 43%. The proportion of alumnae who earned degrees within eight years reached a high of 37% for the Class of This report is produced annually each summer to identify the latest outcomes for recent graduating classes. Previous reports are available upon request. 2 Descriptive statistics for the time (in years) to next institution measure were: minimum = 0, maximum = 13, mean = 2.6, and median = 2.2. Time to next degree metrics were: minimum = 0.3, maximum = 12.4, mean = 4.6, and median = 4.0. Institutional Planning and Research 1 of 6 July 17, 2015

2 The following graph shows that most of the advanced degrees earned in eight years were master s degrees. 2 of 6

3 Institutions at which our alumnae have earned additional degrees Enrollment-tracking data also provide information about the specific institutions at which our alumnae pursue further education and earn degrees. Most of the traditional non-nursing baccalaureate alumnae have pursued further education at public and private universities in southern California. The following table identifies the institutions from which more than five non-nursing baccalaureate alumnae have earned degrees. Institution Earned Degree 1. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNT SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - NORTHRIDGE UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - LOS ANGELES PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY ALLIANT INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY- UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - LONG BEACH UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - DOMINGUEZ HILLS CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY - ORANGE ARGOSY UNIVERSITY 6 In addition to the data reflected above, our alumnae have earned degrees at a number of notable institutions of higher education, including those highlighted below. California Out of State California Institute of Technology Brandeis University Howard University California Polytechnic State Univ. (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) California State Polytechnic Univ. (Cal Poly Pomona) Boston University Columbia University Indiana University - Bloomington New York University Stanford University Georgetown University University of Chicago UC Berkeley University of San Diego George Washington Univ. Harvard University University of Maryland Baltimore University of Wisconsin - Madison 3 of 6

4 Academic Achievements of Traditional Nursing Degree Recipients Between 2001 and 2012, 706 students earned traditional Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees at MSMU. By the time of this study, 25% had pursued further education at a four-year institution and 15% had earned a degree or (post-baccalaureate) certificate. Like their non-nursing peers, the graduating BSN classes with the highest rates of pursuing and earning advanced degrees were those that have had the most time in which to do this. In other words, the earlier classes had higher rates than more recent classes. Our research indicated that most who pursued further education did so within four years of graduating, and most (67%) who earned degrees did so within six years of graduating from MSMU. 3 Therefore, we established 4-year and 6-year windows for these trend analyses. The following graph shows the proportion of each MSMU graduating class that has pursued further education within four years and earned a degree within six years. We see that the proportion of alumnae/i who pursued further education within four years peaked at 33% for the graduating BSN class. Smaller proportions of alumnae/i have earned degrees within six years (8% -27%). Given that nursing is a very practice-based profession and that less than 1% of nurses have PhDs, our BSN graduates may not perceive many incentives to pursue higher degrees. Those that decide to pursue advanced degrees find that top tier schools expect applicants to have acquired a year or more of practice prior to admission. Furthermore, while scholarships and fellowships may be readily available in other disciplines, these are not available to students in most nursing graduate programs. 3 Descriptive statistics for the time (in years) to next institution measure were: minimum = 0, maximum = 12, mean = 3.8, and median = 3.3. Time to next degree metrics were: minimum = 2.1, maximum = 12.9, mean = 5.5, and median = of 6

5 Institutions at which our traditional BSN degree recipients have earned additional degrees Most of the traditional BSN alumnae/i have pursued further education at public and private universities in southern California. The following table identifies the institutions from which recent BSN alumnae/i have earned degrees. Institution Earned Degree Institution Earned Degree UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES 46 EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY 1 CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - FULLERTON 14 GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY 1 MOUNT SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY 11 REGIS UNIVERSITY-SEMESTERS 1 CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - LONG BEACH 5 UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE 1 CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - DOMINGUEZ HILLS 4 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - IRVINE 1 UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX 3 UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO 1 CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - LOS ANGELES 2 UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO 1 GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY-TRADITIONAL 2 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ARLINGTON 1 UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI 2 VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 2 WALDEN UNIVERSITY 1 AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY 1 WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY 1 COLORADO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY 1 WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY 1 DEVRY UNIVERSITY 1 MSMU ALUMNAE/I WHO EARNED BACCALAUREATE DEGREES FROM THE WEEKEND COLLEGE Between 2001 and 2012, 623 students earned Bachelor s degrees from the coeducational Weekend College. By the time of this study, nearly half (49%) had pursued further education at a four-year institution and 28% had earned a degree or (post-baccalaureate) certificate. Records indicated that most of these MSMU alumni who pursued further education did so within three years of graduating and, of those who earned degrees, 68% did so within five years of graduating from MSMU and 89% did so within eight years of graduating from MSMU. 4 The following graph shows the proportion of each Weekend College graduating class that has pursued further education within three years and earned a degree (within 5 and 8 years). The proportion of alumni who have pursued further education within three years grew from 30% (for the Class of ) to 51% (for the Class of ). The proportions that have earned degrees within five years and eight years have also grown. 4 Descriptive statistics for the time (in years) to next institution measure were: minimum = 0, maximum = 12, mean = 2.0, and median = 1.1. Time to next degree metrics were: minimum = 0.3, maximum = 10, mean = 4.3, and median = of 6

6 Most Weekend College alumni who pursued further education did so at institutions in southern California (see table below). The vast majority (92%) of the degrees earned by Weekend College alumni have been master s degrees (primarily in Business and Education). Earned Institution Degree 1. MOUNT SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY 8 4. UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX 8 5. PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY 7 6. CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - NORTHRIDGE 5 7. ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY - MIDWEST 4 8. NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 4 9. CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - LONG BEACH CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - LOS ANGELES WOODBURY UNIVERSITY CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY-ORANGE CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY - IRVINE GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY - TRADITIONAL UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - LOS ANGELES UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS 2 6 of 6