Student Achievement

McNeese State University publishes its goals for student achievement in compliance with SACSCOC’s Institutional Obligations for Public Disclosure Policy Statement and the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation Standard 8.1 (student achievement). Student achievement measures include retention rates, graduation rates, licensure exam passage rates, job placement rates, and other measures appropriate to the institutional mission. 

Many common data elements can be found in the University Factbooks, Cowboy Facts, and Data Dashboards. If the information you need is not in those resources, please submit a Data Request Form. 

The Office of IRE annually publishes the University Factbook that provides student achievement data, including:	The Louisiana Board of Regents provides historical data for McNeese State University and other Louisiana institutions, including:
Headcount and FTE enrollment	Enrollment
First-year student retention rates (one-year)	Credit Hours
Four-year graduation rates	Degrees Conferred
Five-year graduation rates	TOPS Scholarship
Six-year graduation rates	Pell Enrollment and Completers
Number of degrees conferred	Student Transfer

College Navigator furnishes useful data on McNeese and many other institutions of higher education. Individuals seeking student learning outcome achievement data for a particular academic program should visit the Assessment Reports webpage.

Some program goals come from programmatic accreditor requirements, national standards, and/or licensing requirements. These goals are available from the academic department or the programmatic accreditor’s website (see the Accreditation section of the General Information page in the Academic Catalog).

McNeese determines thresholds of acceptability, baseline data, benchmarks, and targets by evaluating institutional trend data, incorporating input from the Louisiana Board of Regents, and comparing data to peer institutions. McNeese chooses peer institutions whose characteristics match the following criteria:  

• Public four-year and above;
• Degree-granting, primarily baccalaureate and above; 
• Institution size of 5,000-9,999; and 
• Located in the southern region (i.e., Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, or Virginia). 

Retention Rates

McNeese tracks the retention rates of each fall cohort of first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students from the first to second year and the first to third year. Retention data is based on census day, or 14th class day, enrollment figures in the Fall semester.

		Fall 2017	Fall 2018	Fall 2019	Fall 2020	Fall 2021	Fall 2022	Fall 2023	Fall 2024	Fall 2025
Enrolled in First Year	Number in Cohort	1,297	1,355	1,202	1,193	995	1,005
Second Year Retention (1st Fall to 2nd Fall) Baseline: 69.30% Threshold of Acceptability: 69.30%	Number Retained	909	942	861	827	682	711
	Percent Retained (Actual)	70.08%	69.52%	71.63%	69.30%	68.54%	70.75%
	Percent Retained (Target)	68.40%	68.50%	68.60%	68.70%	69.40%	69.55%	69.70%	69.85%	70.00%
	Percent Above or Below Target	1.68%	1.02%	3.03%	0.60%	-0.26%	1.20%
Third Year Retention (1st Fall to 3rd Fall) Baseline: 57.50% Threshold of Acceptability: 57.50%	Number Retained	800	818	691	673	607
	Percent Retained (Actual)	61.68%	60.37%	57.50%	56.41%	61.01%
	Percent Retained (Target)	56.80%	56.90%	57.00%	57.10%	57.60%	57.70%	57.80%	57.90%	58.00%
	Percent Above or Below Target	4.88%	3.47%	0.50%	-0.59%	3.41%

Graduation Rates by Race and Gender

McNeese uses graduation rates reported to IPEDS (150% standard time) to monitor cohorts of first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students. This metric is the Key Student Completion Indicator selected for use by our institutional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and School – Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

		2010 Cohort [1,266]	2011 Cohort [1,332]	2012 Cohort [1,297]	2013 Cohort [1,312]	2014 Cohort [1,240]	2015 Cohort [1,341]	2016 Cohort [1,194]	Threshold of Acceptability
Total	McNeese	42% [530]	42% [564]	45% [584]	47% [610]	44% [539]	42% [565]	46% [555]	42%
	Peers	39%	42%	44%	43%	45%	46%	46%
Men	McNeese	37% [186]	39% [215]	40% [208]	41% [208]	40% [197]	39% [224]	42% [206]	37%
	Peers	36%	38%	38%	40%	40%	41%	42%
Women	McNeese	46% [344]	44% [349]	48% [376]	50% [402]	46% [342]	44% [341]	50% [349]	44%
	Peers	45%	46%	48%	49%	50%	50%	52%
American Indian or Alaska Native	McNeese	33% [2]	19% [3]	36% [5]	20% [1]	17% [1]	33% [1]	25% [1]	19%
	Peers	33%	33%	33%	50%	48%	46%	33%
Asian	McNeese	40% [4]	50% [5]	45% [9]	67% [8]	72% [13]	40% [4]	50% [8]	40%
	Peers	50%	48%	50%	50%	50%	50%	50%
Black or African American	McNeese	28% [62]	28% [72]	35% [74]	32% [78]	33% [74]	25% [63]	32% [65]	28%
	Peers	33%	34%	35%	37%	37%	38%	42%
Hispanic/Latino	McNeese	50% [12]	43% [13]	50% [5]	45% [15]	48% [19]	36% [16]	36% [17]	43%
	Peers	38%	35%	38%	42%	43%	45%	44%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	McNeese	—	100% [1]	33% [1]	100% [3]	—	0% [0]	—	33%
	Peers	20%	42%	0%	50%	0%	0%	—
White	McNeese	45% [422]	45% [444]	47% [466]	50% [468]	44% [382]	48% [419]	50% [400]	45%
	Peers	40%	41%	44%	45%	48%	47%	49%
Two or More Races	McNeese	35% [6]	40% [4]	29% [7]	36% [17]	36% [15]	39% [20]	36% [18]	29%
	Peers	37%	36%	34%	43%	39%	33%	40%
Race/Ethnicity Unknown	McNeese	0% [0]	29% [2]	100% [1]	0% [0]	—	—	—	29%
	Peers	29%	33%	40%	39%	50%	38%	42%
Nonresident	McNeese	71% [22]	91% [20]	84% [16]	63% [20]	70% [35]	42% [42]	73% [46]	63%
	Peers	46%	57%	50%	55%	50%	50%	58%

Licensure Exam Passage Rates

See Licensure Exam Passage Rates page.

Job Placement Rates

Calendar Year	Identified Alumni	Number Working in the Field	Percent
2016	330	221	67.00%
2017	310	298	63.87%
2018	283	204	72.08%
2019	253	180	71.15%
2020	197	144	73.10%
2021	122	98	80.32%

Source: Lightcast Alumni Outcomes Project