Weber State University is seeing significant gains in enrollment, retention and completion. New data, measured during the third week of spring semester, shows how university-wide efforts to ensure student success are working.
Enrollment: Students want to study at WSU
“The numbers show more and more people want to study at Weber,” said Jessica Oyler, vice president of Student Access & Success.
This spring, matriculated degree-seeking students at Weber State increased by 2.9% from last year, while overall student headcount increased 3.4%.
Weber State also saw more students advancing their education after earning an associate’s degree. In the academic year 2021–22, 63% of students graduating with a bachelor’s degree previously completed an associate or certificate at WSU.
Completion: Students are persevering
In just over a decade, Weber State’s graduation rate skyrocketed from 31% to 44%. At this same time, strategic investments decreased the advisor-to-student ratio from 618:1 to 490:1. And, new this year, the university implemented mandatory advising for first-year students.
“We’ve also moved a metric we’ve never moved before,” said Oyler, referring to WSU’s eight-year credential completion. Breaking a trend of stagnation, 45.6% of students who started at WSU in the academic year 2015–16 earned a degree or certificate — an increase of 3.3% from the prior academic year.
Although small on paper, Oyler said that increase is a considerable feat, especially given Weber State’s large student population, which topped 30,000 last fall.
Efforts to support students and boost completion rates included a comprehensive texting communication plan to remind students of deadlines and “personalized intervention” to directly reach out to students who may be falling behind.
Value: Students see how higher education pays off
Nearly 80% of 2022 graduates from WSU received degrees or certificates in high-yield fields, which are identified by the Utah Department of Workforce Services as areas that lead to high-wage, high-demand jobs.
Plus, WSU continually earns praise for its return on investment. A 2022 study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce ranked WSU in the top 10% among 4,500 colleges nationally. And a 2023 study from the Utah Foundation found that “Weber State University tops the list in Utah for students’ 10-year net present value of their education.”
Oyler said this is part of what makes WSU different from other institutions: “Here we’re focused on teaching, focused on each student and focused on getting them plugged into those in-demand careers that prove their education was worth it.”
