MSU joins new effort to share student outcomes
Mississippi State University announced last week that it is an early adopter of a new student achievement reporting system that has been created to give a more comprehensive overview of student outcomes.
The Student Achievement Measure (SAM) Project was launched jointly by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the American Association of Community Colleges, the American Council on Education, the Association of American Universities, and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Project leaders said it is a groundbreaking effort to enhance transparency and provide the public with clear and far-reaching information regarding college student progress and completion.
According to the project website http://www.studentachievementmeasure.org/, the SAM Project "provides a comprehensive picture of student progress on the path to earning a college degree or certificate. SAM reports aggregate outcomes for a group of students who start at a college or university at the same time. Unlike typical graduation rate measures, which report only the percentage of students who graduate from their first institution, SAM includes the percentage of students who are still working toward a degree and those who transfer to another institution."
MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert said the university embraces the opportunity to provide additional information to help students make a more informed choice about which university to attend.
"We were eager to participate in the SAM Project. We are proud of the steps we have taken over the years to increase retention and graduation rates," Gilbert said.
Participating colleges and universities will begin to post their institution's individual Student Achievement Measure on the website in Fall 2013.
Allison Matthews | University Relations
