A Decade of Success: Findings from 10 Years of APLU's Degree Completion Award
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| Title: | A Decade of Success: Findings from 10 Years of APLU's Degree Completion Award |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | L. Shanks, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) |
| Source: | Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. 2026. |
| Availability: | Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. 1220 L Street NW Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005; Tel: 202-478-6040; Fax: 202-478-6046; e-mail: info@aplu.org; Web site: https://www.aplu.org/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 29 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Lumina Foundation |
| Document Type: | Information Analyses Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Land Grant Universities, Educational Attainment, Academic Degrees, Educational Practices, Awards, Educational Improvement, Graduation Rate, Institutional Characteristics, Educational Strategies, Program Effectiveness, School Holding Power |
| Abstract: | The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) created the Degree Completion Award to recognize institutions that demonstrate measurable progress in improving student outcomes and to encourage the exchange of effective institutional practices. From 2015 to 2024, the award generated a substantial body of institutional submissions describing strategies designed to improve student progress toward graduation. Universities used these applications to document reforms in advising, curriculum design, financial support, and student services. Taken together, these data provide a unique detailed view of how public and land-grant universities approached the challenge of improving degree completion during a period of significant institutional and societal change. This report analyzes 154 Degree Completion Award applications submitted by 90 public and land-grant universities between 2015 and 2024. Rather than evaluate individual institutions, the analysis identified recurring patterns across submissions, which revealed a set of institutional strategies universities repeatedly associated with improvements in student progress. The findings in this report highlight how public and land-grant universities increasingly treated student success not as a collection of isolated programs but as a coordinated institutional priority. Institutions described reforms that align academic affairs, student affairs, advising systems, and financial policies around shared goals related to student progress and completion. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | ED680929 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) created the Degree Completion Award to recognize institutions that demonstrate measurable progress in improving student outcomes and to encourage the exchange of effective institutional practices. From 2015 to 2024, the award generated a substantial body of institutional submissions describing strategies designed to improve student progress toward graduation. Universities used these applications to document reforms in advising, curriculum design, financial support, and student services. Taken together, these data provide a unique detailed view of how public and land-grant universities approached the challenge of improving degree completion during a period of significant institutional and societal change. This report analyzes 154 Degree Completion Award applications submitted by 90 public and land-grant universities between 2015 and 2024. Rather than evaluate individual institutions, the analysis identified recurring patterns across submissions, which revealed a set of institutional strategies universities repeatedly associated with improvements in student progress. The findings in this report highlight how public and land-grant universities increasingly treated student success not as a collection of isolated programs but as a coordinated institutional priority. Institutions described reforms that align academic affairs, student affairs, advising systems, and financial policies around shared goals related to student progress and completion. |
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