Seeking to boost students’ on-time graduation rates, the University of Texas is refining its orientation program.
A recent report from UT’s Task Force on Undergraduate Graduation Rates looked at ways to increase four year graduation rates. As KUT News wrote at the time of the report’s release, UT’s four-year graduation rate is currently about 50 percent, and the university wants to increase that amount to 70 percent by 2016. Speeding up graduation rates is seen as one solution to the problem of crowded and increasingly expensive college educations.
The task force issued several recommendations, including lower summer course fees, and higher tuition for students who have over-accumulated credits. (You can read the full report online.) But the bulk of recommendations focused on grooming new students, and university administrators hope changes to freshman orientation will speed along the students’ education.
In an announcement today, school administrators say student orientation is “being redefined to provide more guidance on selecting majors, meeting academic requirements and graduating in four years.” UT President Bill Powers has also named Associate Dean Marc Musick of the College of Liberal Arts “a special assistant” to oversee the changes. They will be implemented this summer.
