Findings for bachelor’s degree-seeking students on this page are based mainly on analysis of 28,614 bachelor’s degree-seeking students who entered one of 29 public institutions of higher education in Texas in 2008-09. 

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 for bachelor’s degree-seeking students who entered public institutions in Texas in 2008-09 varied by students’ high school math achievement but did not vary by students’ household income.

• Household Income. Bachelor’s degree-seeking students who were low-income experienced cumulative net VAE ($88,171) comparable to that of their peers who were not low-income ($86,416).
   
• High School Math Achievement. Bachelor’s degree-seeking students who excelled on standardized tests of high school math experienced substantially higher cumulative net VAE than students with lower math achievement. For example, students who scored in the 76th to 99th percentile on standardized tests of high school math experienced cumulative net VAE of $111,504. By contrast, low-achieving students who scored in the 1st to 25th percentile on standardized tests of high school math experienced cumulative net VAE of $23,766.

Exhibit B8. Cumulative Net VAE for Bachelor’s Degree-seeking Students by Demographic Group, Entry Year 2008-09

Image

Exhibit Note: Values are averages and in 2023 dollars. The size of each circle is proportional to the number of students in the sample for each demographic cohort.