Utah’s on-time graduation rate gains are the highest in the country

Utah was the state with the most progress on a national index measuring on-time graduation rates this year. That’s one sign of promise seen nationally in higher education, according to an evaluation of higher education outcomes from the nonprofit Strada Education Foundation.

According to the organization’s annual State Opportunity Index, about 70% of recent public college graduates throughout the country experience a positive return on their college investment within 10 years of completion.  

In Utah, the return on investment number is 67% for bachelor’s degrees, slightly below average, and 59% for associate degrees. However, the state shines above all others in its on-time graduation rate gains for bachelor’s degrees, which went from 28% to 37% this year. 

Hawaii followed Utah in those gains, going from 34% to 41%. Rhode Island was third, going from 47% to 52%, according to a news release from the Strada Education Foundation.

“Still, in most states, fewer than half of students complete a bachelor’s degree in four years,” the release says. 

Despite its improvement in when students graduate, Utah didn’t fare well in the affordability measurements on the organization’s index. The average amount of hours a student needs to work to cover in-state attendance costs is 32 per week, for a $16,200 annual price. The national average price is $15,270, which amounts to 26 hours of work per week.

Among other positive results from Utah public universities is the percentage of bachelor’s degree holders who are employed in college-level jobs. 

“Its college-level employment rate is among the highest in the country at 63 percent (compared to a national average of 60 percent),” the report says of Utah, adding that the state has a good supply/demand ratio (of over 75%) in jobs for graduates in data analytics, information technology and cyber security, software engineering, nursing, engineering and manufacturing.

But, the supply/demand ratio for jobs in finance and accounting support is less than 50%, the state’s lowest ratio in the report.