Associate's Degree Seekers: Programmatic Cohorts
Main Findings
Introduction
Findings for associate’s degree-seeking students on this page are based mainly on analysis of 559,068 associate’s degree-seeking students who entered one of 57 public institutions of higher education in Texas from 2008-09 through 2013-14.
Cumulative net VAE values are averages, stated in 2023 dollars, for cohorts of entering students that include a mix of eventual completers and non-completers.
Cumulative Net VAE by Program
Cumulative net VAE for associate’s degree-seeking students who entered public institutions in Texas from 2008-09 through 2013-14 varied widely by program of study.
For example, students who sought associate’s degrees in construction trades experienced cumulative net VAE of $72,912. By contrast, students who sought associate’s degrees in logistics experienced cumulative net VAE of -$15,401.
Thirteen (81%) of 16 programmatic cohorts of associate’s degree-seeking students who enrolled from 2008-09 through 2013-14 experienced positive cumulative net VAE.
Exhibit A6. Cumulative Net VAE for Associate’s Degree-seeking Students by Program, Entry Years 2008-09 through 2013-14
Exhibit Note: Cumulative net VAE values in this exhibit are averages, stated in 2023 dollars, for cohorts of entering students that include a mix of completers and non-completers. The size of each circle is proportional to the number of students in the sample for each programmatic cohort.
Cumulative Net VAE for STEM Programs
Among associate’s degree-seeking students who enrolled from 2008-09 through 2013-14, students who sought STEM degrees experienced substantially higher cumulative net VAE ($35,627) than students who did not ($21,269).
Exhibit A7. Cumulative Net VAE for Associate’s Degree-seeking Students by STEM Program Status, Entry Years 2008-09 through 2013-14
Exhibit Note: Cumulative net VAE values in this exhibit are averages, stated in 2023 dollars, for cohorts of entering students that include a mix of completers and non-completers.