Saint Augustine’s University evaluates success with respect to student achievement including retention rates, graduation rates, and graduate and professional school  placement.  The University has a systemic process of on-going assessments such as annual reporting, degree program student learning outcome assessment, and academic program review that serve as the documentation and evaluations of student achievement.

In Fall 2021, 978 full-time and 127 part-time students enrolled into SAU for a total headcount of 1105 undergraduate students (1053 full-time equivalent).  This includes 947 SAU students and 158 special status students (Early College or Interinstitutional).  In addition, 8 students registered as graduate students in the new Master of Public Administration (MPA) program bringing the total headcount to 1113 students.  This is up from the Fall 2020 headcount of 1097 students (151 special status students).  There were 391 new first-time freshmen in 2021 up from 384 first-time freshmen in fall 2020. The freshman retention rate was 48% (Fall 2020 to Fall 2021) and 108 students graduated during the academic year ending in May 2021.  For Fall 2021, 53% of the students registered for undergraduate courses were male with 85% of the SAU students (804) staying in university housing. 

The largest school is the School of Business, Management and Technology.  The largest program (major) is Business Administration with 184 students (fall 2021) followed by Sport Management (116), Criminal Justice (95), Psychology (82), Media & Communications (76), Public Health Science (51), Biology (49), Exercise Science (42), Sociology (42), Organizational Management (38), Engineering Mathematics (29), Elementary Education (22), Health and Physical Education (19), Visual Arts (19), Accounting (18), Film (13), Theatre (9), Religious Studies (8), Music (8), English (7), Political Science (7), and Chemistry (4).

The University monitors the retention rate for first-time, full-time students as a measure of success of the student achievement.  The average retention rate over the last five years is 51%.  The fall in retention for first-time freshmen fell over the last two years may be linked to the increase in online delivery due to COVID-19 protocols.

To address the decline in the retention rate, the University is emphasizing the Early Warning System and restructuring the academic advising system.  Advisors will work with students to clarify educational and career goals as well as making appropriate course selections.  There will be a more direct connection between the University College advising team and the program advisors that advise upperclassmen (juniors and seniors).  Our expectation is an increase in our retention rate of 2% annually.

The University monitors graduation rates as a measure of success of its undergraduate program.  The rates are reported to the US Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Graduation Rate Survey.  The graduation rates reported to IPEDS do not include transfer students and students that began as part-time. The four-year average six-year graduation rate is 23%

Part of the evaluation of student achievement is the number of graduates accepted to attend graduate or professional schools.  Over the last five years, 16% of the graduates were accepted to graduate or professional school at the time of graduation.