The University of Houston-Victoria recently was included in the Guide to Online Schools’ list of 92 colleges and universities that help their students achieve upward economic mobility through higher education.
Guide to Online Schools compiled its 2018 Best Online Colleges for Student Economic Mobility list by looking at students’ economic mobility rates, starting salaries and Pell Grant rates.
“UHV is dedicated to offering quality, affordable programs that help students achieve success,” said David Cockrum, UHV interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We are grateful that our efforts in helping students have been acknowledged, and it is exciting to be ranked two years in a row.”
When calculating students’ mobility rates, the website looked at the percentage of students who moved from the bottom fifth of income distribution to the top fifth. The data was compiled by the Equality of Opportunity Project, a national organization that has collected data from 30 million college students to calculate economic mobility for American colleges.
The website also included in its calculations the early career median salaries of students within the first five years of earning their degrees. The salary information was collected through Payscale, a national provider of compensation data. Payscale lists UHV’s bachelor’s graduates as earning an average annual amount of $46,900 in their early careers and $85,600 as mid-career pay.
In addition, institutions were ranked based on the percentage of students who received Pell Grants. These grants are awarded by the federal government based on financial need. Universities that awarded a higher percentage of Pell Grants received higher scores. About 49 percent of UHV’s students received Pell Grants during fall 2017.
“UHV offers a wide range of need- and merit-based financial aid in addition to Pell Grants and other forms of state and federal aid,” Cockrum said. “Our primary goal is to assist our students as they earn a higher education and help them make their mark in their lives and communities. This ranking is a confirmation that our efforts have been and continue to be successful.”