Student Achievement Measures
The University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) identifies, evaluates, and publishes goals and outcomes for student achievement appropriate to the institution's mission, the nature of the students it serves, and the kinds of programs offered. The institution uses multiple measures to document student success. As a public institution, the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) evaluates its success of student achievement on an ongoing basis, based on its strategic plan and mission. These four goals are aligned with Educational Attainment, one of the four themes of the strategic plan, and they are aligned with UHCL's mission to place "its highest priority on serving a diverse body of students in every aspect of their university experience."
Goal 1: Graduation Rates
Outcome #1
| Outcome #1 | Criteria | Target | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increase graduation rates. | Track six-year and four-year graduation rates for first-time in college, full-time, degree seeking students. | 60% of FTIC students will graduate in six years; 60% of FTIC students will graduate in four years. | The 6-year and 4-year periods ending in 2025, we have a loss in progress from 2024 which trended positive. These are also below the 60% threshold. This is related to overall continued enrollment of FTIC and plans for FTIC to transfer and not complete at UHCL. Academic advising and student success initiatives are working on improvements across the campus to reverse this trend toward the 60% target. Recent changes in leadership in Strategic Enrollment Management and in Student Success Initiatives are focusing on retention and graduation strategies. |
Six-Year Grad Rates
UDGD, First Time in College, Full-Time, Degree-Seeking
| Students | Cohort Fall 2014 (2020) | Cohort Fall 2015 (2021) | Cohort Fall 2016 (2022) | Cohort Fall 2017 (2023) | Cohort Fall 2018 (2024) | Cohort Fall 2019 (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 55.21 | 55.45 | 53.16 | 59.34 | 46.24 | 45.98 |
| Black or African American | 25.00 | 66.67 | 50.00 | 36.36 | 50.00 | 45.45 |
| Hispanic | 50.72 | 44.87 | 55.10 | 42.22 | 54.84 | 43.22 |
| Asian American | 57.14 | 54.17 | 56.00 | 59.26 | 58.82 | 51.52 |
| Other | 54.55 | 69.23 | 44.44 | 46.67 | 50.00 | 47.06 |
| Female | 56.62 | 58.68 | 61.29 | 55.24 | 58.78 | 51.05 |
| Male | 42.42 | 46.73 | 44.66 | 43.96 | 43.48 | 39.02 |
| Total | 51.98 | 53.07 | 53.74 | 50.85 | 51.63 | 45.49 |
Four-Year Grad Rate
UDGD, First Time in College, Full-Time, Degree-Seeking
| Students | Cohort Fall 2016 (2020) | Cohort Fall 2017 (2021) | Cohort Fall 2018 (2022) | Cohort Fall 2019 (2023) | Cohort Fall 2020 (2024) | Cohort Fall 2021 (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 30.38 | 27.47 | 30.11 | 20.69 | 19.48 | 30.00 |
| Black or African American | 31.25 | 18.18 | 40.00 | 18.18 | 40.00 | 25.00 |
| Hispanic | 32.65 | 20.00 | 34.41 | 25.42 | 23.70 | 26.13 |
| Asian American | 8.00 | 44.44 | 32.35 | 27.27 | 41.67 | 14.29 |
| Other | 22.22 | 26.67 | 50.00 | 29.41 | 27.27 | 33.33 |
| Female | 33.06 | 28.67 | 37.40 | 31.47 | 32.08 | 30.63 |
| Male | 23.30 | 21.98 | 29.57 | 15.45 | 19.20 | 18.87 |
| Total | 28.63 | 34.57 | 33.74 | 24.06 | 26.41 | 25.94 |
Outcome #2
| Outcome #2 | Criteria | Target | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Increase graduation rates. | Track six-year and four-year transfer graduation rates. | 60% of transfer students will graduate in six years; 60% of transfer students will graduate in four years. | The six-year graduation rate for transfer students was 72.44%. The four-year graduation rate was 61.10%. Both represent a small increase from the prior year. This is above the target and is a metric that we closely monitor in each academic college. Colleges are continuing the action plans from 2024-2025 for graduation rate improvement to maintain this trend. |
Six-Year Grad Rate
UDGD, First Time Transfer, Full-Time, Degree-Seeking
| Students | Cohort Fall 2014 (2020) | Cohort Fall 2015 (2021) | Cohort Fall 2016 (2022) | Cohort Fall 2017 (2023) | Cohort Fall 2018 (2024) | Cohort Fall 2019 (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 72.38 | 70.82 | 72.51 | 69.32 | 70.03 | 71.57 |
| Black or African American | 65.63 | 56.67 | 72.22 | 66.67 | 71.43 | 58.33 |
| Hispanic | 76.47 | 72.82 | 67.00 | 75.81 | 69.34 | 73.03 |
| Asian American | 80.00 | 86.96 | 82.14 | 72.50 | 72.22 | 80.33 |
| Other | 68.85 | 45.65 | 69.77 | 71.79 | 53.66 | 78.00 |
| Female | 77.48 | 71.61 | 73.96 | 74.07 | 74.42 | 75.16 |
| Male | 65.32 | 65.98 | 66.67 | 67.71 | 61.39 | 67.94 |
| Total | 73.18 | 69.48 | 70.94 | 71.89 | 69.06 | 72.44 |
Four-Year Grad Rate
UDGD, First Time Transfer, Full-Time, Degree-Seeking
| Students | Cohort Fall 2016 (2020) | Cohort Fall 2017 (2021) | Cohort Fall 2018 (2022) | Cohort Fall 2019 (2023) | Cohort Fall 2020 (2024) | Cohort Fall 2021 (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 68.73 | 62.88 | 66.25 | 66.56 | 61.45 | 60.85 |
| Black or African American | 66.67 | 63.33 | 69.64 | 50.00 | 39.39 | 50.68 |
| Hispanic | 64.00 | 70.97 | 64.81 | 63.49 | 63.14 | 63.38 |
| Asian American | 78.57 | 70.00 | 66.67 | 70.49 | 61.54 | 61.36 |
| Other | 67.44 | 66.67 | 43.90 | 68.00 | 69.05 | 58.00 |
| Female | 70.91 | 69.39 | 70.97 | 67.79 | 65.28 | 64.32 |
| Male | 62.35 | 61.43 | 55.78 | 59.58 | 50.83 | 54.61 |
| Total | 67.37 | 66.67 | 64.72 | 64.70 | 60.75 | 61.10 |
Goal 2: Retention Rates
Outcome #1
| Outcome #1 | Criteria | Target | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promote student retention. | Track on-year retention rates for FTIC students and for transfer students. | 83% of transfer and 79% of FTIC students will be retained after one year (the goal for retention is set annually at the mean for the last 6 years plus the standard deviation). | In 2025, transfer students (82.38%) were retained and FTIC student retention dropped again (71.27%) and both fell short of the targets. Colleges and Student Success Initiatives are working on longer action plans for 2025-2027 for retention improvements. Recent changes in leadership in Strategic Enrollment Management and in Student Success Initiatives are focusing on retention and graduation strategies. |
One-Year Retention Rate
Outcome #2
| Outcome #2 | Criteria | Target | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promote student retention. | Compare retention rate with national peers, per IPEDS. | UHCL will be in the top five of the 10-member UHCL National Peer Group. | UHCL's 75% retention rate placed it fourth in the group of 10 national peer institutions. Six universities reported lower rates (58% to 73%) and three universities reported higher rates (81% to 88%). |
|
IPEDS Unit ID
|
UHCL National Peer Group Institution Name
|
Full-time Retention Rate, 2022 | Full-time Retention Rate, 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 165820 | Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg MA | 72 | 73 |
| 145336 | Governors State University, University Park IL | 56 | 59 |
| 151342 | Indiana University-South Bend, South Bend IN | 66 | 67 |
| 224147 | Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi TX | 63 | 58 |
| 161873 | University of Baltimore, Baltimore MD | 60 | 65 |
| 126580 | University of Colorado, Colorado Springs CO | 67 | 67 |
| 225414 | University of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston TX | 67 | 75 |
| 148654 | University of Illinois at Springfield, Springfield IL | 76 | 81 |
| 171137 | University of Michigan- Dearborn, Dearborn MI | 82 | 81 |
| 138354 | University of West Florida, Pensacola FL | 85 | 88 |
Goal 3: Course Completion Rates
| Outcome #1 | Criteria | Target | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improve course completion rates. | Track the percentage of semester credit hours completed over the number attempted. | UHCL seeks to improve its course completion rates by surpassing the average plus the standard deviation, which would be 95.77% completion. | The 2025 rate (95.9%) moved us to above the target for our first time. The percentage of courses completed has increased as compared to the pre-pandemic levels. Leadership is discussing expected targets as completion above 95% continues to be appropriate for our institution. We are monitoring the completion over the next cycle before making any changes to the target as 96% may become obtainable and sustainable. |
Goal 4: Licensing Examinations
| Outcome #1 | Criteria | Target | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ensure UHCL students will be prepared for professional practice. | Track passing rates of the Universal CPA Exam over three years. | UHCL will be in the top half of comparison of THECB Master's University Peer Group. | 240 UHCL students tested on 259 sections of the Uniform CPA examination in 2023, and passed 35% of those sections. This places UHCL 6th when compared to 10 members of the THECB's Master's University Peer Group. |
| THECB Master's University Peer Group |
# of
Candidates
Tested
|
# of
Sections
Tested
|
# of
Sections
Passed
|
% of
Sections
Passed
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelo State University | 67 | 70 | 32 | 45.71 |
| Midwestern State University | 44 | 47 | 20 | 42.55 |
| Texas A&M University - Central Texas | 15 | 15 | 5 | 33.33 |
| Texas A&M University - Texarkana | 7 | 7 | 2 | 28.57 |
| University of Houston - Clear Lake | 240 | 259 | 91 | 35.14 |
| University of Houston - Downtown | 321 | 328 | 62 | 18.90 |
| University of Houston - Victoria | 93 | 95 | 35 | 36.84 |
| University of North Texas at Dallas | 31 | 32 | 12 | 37.50 |
| University of Texas - Permian Basin | 113 | 118 | 27 | 22.88 |
| University of Texas - Tyler | 98 | 102 | 60 | 58.81 |
| Outcome #2 | Criteria | Target | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ensure UHCL students will be prepared for professional practice. | Track passing rates of the Universal CPA Exam over three years. | Maintain a ratio of at least 6.0 for Number of CPA Exam Candidates from July of Year X+1 through June of Year X+2/Number of Accounting MS Graduates from September of Year X. | In 2023, UHCL reported that 240 students sat for the CPA exam for a ratio of 5:3. |
| UHCL Student Testing Statistics |
# of
Candidates Tested
|
# of
Sections
Tested
|
# of
Sections
Passed |
% of
Sections
Passed
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 240 | 259 | 91 | 35.14% |
| 2022 | 158 | 166 | 67 | 40.36% |
| 2021 | 150 | 157 | 51 | 32.48% |
| 2020 | 144 | 151 | 65 | 43.05% |
| 2019 | 197 | 225 | 91 | 40.44% |
| 2018 | 221 | 272 | 110 | 40.44% |
| 2017 | 261 | 330 | 121 | 36.67% |