Institutional Completion Rates by Level

The Student Right to Know Act requires American Public University System to report a graduation rate calculation that includes only the following population: full-time, first-time, undergraduate, degree/certificate seeking students who enroll at American Public University System. It tracks the progress of those students who complete a degree or other award such as a certificate within 150% of “normal time” for completing the program in which they are enrolled. Because the majority of American Public University System’s students are part-time students or transfer students who have previously attended an institution of higher education, this rate only represents approximately one percent of the University’s student body in the 2015-16 year.

For the cohort of students who began their studies September 2015- August 2016, the Student Right to Know Act graduation rate was 48 percent.

Classic Students are defined as any undergraduate student who has transferred at least nine credit hours to us and completed at least 15 credit hours of our courses or a graduate student who has completed at least six credit hours at our university. This is the term that we use as our primary classification for calculating graduation rates. The classification and methodology were proposed by a working group organized by the Servicemembers Opportunity College (SOC). A white paper was published in July 2012, and as one of the largest providers of higher education to U.S. military personnel, we decided to align our graduation reporting with this. Upon further study, we concluded that the methodology applies to civilian working adult students as well, so there is no need at this time to distinguish between military and non-military students. We allow 10 years for a student to earn a bachelor’s degree and 7 years for an associate or master’s degree. Doctoral programs were implemented in Fall 2017. Doctoral candidates have 7 years to complete their degree.