Student Achievement Goals

Student Achievement Goals & Outcomes

True to its mission, Mars Hill University “challenges and equips students to pursue intellectual, spiritual, and personal growth.”  The university assesses the extent to which students achieve this growth using the following measures: first-year student retention rates, graduation rates, licensure examination outcomes, and post-graduation career outcomes. For certain measures, such as graduation rates, the University has identified a set of ten peer institutions, all of which share commonalities with us, to benchmark our performance against. In 2020, MHU’s Student Achievement Goals were revised to better reflect institutional priorities.

Retention

Goal: Retention rate (Fall to Fall) of First-Time, Full-time, First-Year students of 70% or greater

Reporting Cycle 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Cohort Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
First-Year Retention Rate 59 57 59 63 63 67 67 62 61
First-Year Retention Goal 60 60 60 60 60 70 74 74 74
First Year Retention Median of MHU Selected Peer Group 59 61 59 61 63 63 67 69 69

Source: IPEDS

graph of retention rates 2014-2022 cohorts

Graduation

Goal: Graduation rate at or above the 50th percentile comparison group across demographic groups

MHU 6-Year Graduation Rates
Achievement Goal:
Graduation rate at or above the 50th percentile comparison group across demographic groups.

Cohort IPEDS Reporting Year Comparison Group Median Graduation Rate MHU Outcome:

Graduation Rate

Fall 2009 2015-2016 38% 34%, 30th percentile
Fall 2010 2016-2017 38%   34%, 40th percentile
Fall 2011 2017-2018 32% 31%, 30th percentile
Fall 2012 2018-2019 38% 39%, 60th percentile
Fall 2013 2019-2020 40% 30%, 20th percentile
Fall 2014 2020-2021 38% 35%, 40th percentile
Fall 2015 2021-2022 37% 35%, 40th percentile
Fall 2016 2022-2023 37% 41%, 60th percentile
Fall 2017 2023-2024 ** 42%,

Source: IPEDS

chart of six-year graduation rates

**Pending data verification.

Licensure Examination Outcomes

Increase student licensure rates in education and nursing

Education

Academic Year Achievement Goal Outcome
2022-2023 (2022 cohort) 95% or higher pass rate in education licensure exams 81.6 (1 year pass rate)
2021-2022 (2021 cohort) 95% or higher pass rate in education licensure exams 82.9% (1 year pass rate)
2020-2021 (2020 Cohort) 95% or higher pass rate in education licensure exams 93% (1 year pass rate)
2019-2020 (2019 Cohort) 95% or higher pass rate in education licensure exams 90% (1 year pass rate)
2018-2019 (2018 Cohort) 100% 100% (only 1 year of data available, 1 year pass rate)
2017-2018 (2017 Cohort) 100% 100% (only 2 years of data available, 2 year pass rate)
2016-2017 (2016 Cohort) 100% 84.21% (3 year pass rate)
2015-2016 (2015 Cohort) 100% 85.19% (3 year pass rate)

Source: Aggregated ETS results as reported to the State of North Carolina via the Title II Federal Reporting process and published in the annual EPP Report Card.

graph of education licensure pass rates

Nursing 

Academic Year Achievement Goal Outcome
January 1, 2023-December 31, 2023 NCLEX Registered Nurse pass rate reflecting 95% of a three-year average 67%
January 1, 2022-December 31, 2022 NCLEX Registered Nurse pass rate reflecting 95% of a three-year average 74%
January 1, 2021-December 31, 2021 NCLEX Registered Nurse pass rate reflecting 95% of a three-year average 68.75%
January 1, 2020-December 31, 2020 NCLEX Registered Nurse pass rate reflecting 95% of a three-year average 66.67%
January 1, 2019-December 31, 2019 100% 65.00%
January 1, 2018-December 31, 2018 (first year of test-takers) 100% 66.67%

Source: North Carolina Board of Nursing

graph of nursing licensure exam pass rate

Post-Graduation Career Outcomes

Improve student post-graduation career outcomes.

Where are our graduates now? We received responses to the First Destination Survey from the areas indicated below.

map showing locations of grads

Source: Handshake

Class of May 2024 Post-Graduation Career Outcomes:

The goal for this metric is 92% Placement rate of undergraduate and graduate students and a 67% Response/knowledge rate.

Undergraduate Placements: 43.24% of undergraduates who responded to our follow-up First Destination Survey report they are employed, enrolled in continuing education, or engaged in volunteer service. Knowledge Rate: 67%

pie chart of undergraduate placements

Graduate Placements: 77% of graduate students who responded to our follow-up First Destination Survey report they are employed. Knowledge Rate: 88%

pie chart of graduate placements

Source: Handshake First Destination Survey and Cothran Center for Career Readiness