Office of Institutional Effectiveness

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness serves as a resource for accountability and informed decision making to fulfill and advance the University's mission:

Webster University, a worldwide institution, ensures high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence.

Four Functional Areas

The work of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness centers on four functional areas.

  • Institutional Accreditation: OIE conducts and guides inquiry, analysis and reporting to ensure the University's continued accreditation as a "worldwide institution."
  • Institutional Research: OIE conducts and guides inquiry, analysis, and reporting of the quality of "learning experiences" to ensure that they "transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence."
  • Data Reporting: OIE reports data internally and externally to use for accountability and informed decision making.
  • Data Management: OIE gathers, structures, and manages data, ensuring data integrity, for use in inquiry, analysis, and reporting.

Design Structure

We ask the following questions when designing work for each of our functional areas.

  1. What do we want to know?
    Our first step is determining the specific mission-centric questions that we need to address in planning and designing our inquiry.
  2. Why do we want to know?
    Ultimately, the results of our inquiry, analysis, and reporting are to inform decision making to fulfill and advance Webster's mission. For example, stakeholders may use the results for:
    • accountability and compliance (e.g., accreditation),
    • monitoring and/or strengthening our practices and policies to ensure high quality learning experiences, and
    • modifying or developing new learning experiences to enhance our outcomes of global citizenship and individual excellence.
  3. How will we use the results?
    Before beginning our work, we need to determine how the stakeholders will use the results in order to inform our methodology and reporting.
  4. How will we find out?
    We use quantitative and qualitative methods for data gathering and analysis. We may use existing student data or gather new data through methods such as surveys and focus groups.
  5. What did we find out?
    Our reporting addresses the questions that we posed for our work and informs the stakeholders of our findings according to their needs.
students gathering around a computer

Institutional Accreditation

students gathering around a computer

Webster University has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) continuously since 1925. We also have seven specialized accreditations for academic programs. All accredited programs are currently approved and compliant with accrediting organization requirements.

See our full list of accreditations

Data Reporting: Student Outcomes

Webster provides access to data about important student outcomes such as employment and continuing education after graduation, retention rates, graduation rates, and licensure rates. The reports below are provided for students, parents, and the university community.

Data about recent graduates’ employment and continuing education status is collected through Webster’s Outcomes Survey. The Outcomes Survey is administered electronically five times per year, each year, to recent graduates from the University.

Webster's professional schools and programs monitor test scores and pass rates on licensure and certification examinations as one measure of student achievement. You can find links to those respective results below.

Webster tracks cohorts of Webster Groves first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen as well as Webster Groves full-time degree-seeking transfer students in its calculation of retention and graduation/completion rates.

Download Retention and Graduation Rates PDF (opens in new tab)

Table 1. One-Year Retention Rate and Six-Year Graduation Rate of Webster Groves First-time, Full-Time, Degree-Seeking Freshmen

  One-Year Retention Rate Six-Year Graduation Rate
  Total Students Starting in Fall 2021 # Returning Fall 2022 Retention Rate Total Students Starting in Fall 2016 # Graduated by May 2022 Graduation Rate
Note: Graduation rates include only those who earned a bachelor's degree. 
Full-time Freshmen 343 270 79% 433 254 59%

Table 2. Six-Year and Eight-Year Completion Rates of Webster Groves Full-time, Degree-Seeking Transfer Students

  Six-Year Completion Rate Eight-Year Completion Rate
  Total Students Starting in Fall 2014 # Earning Credential by August 2020 Completion Rate Total Students Starting in Fall 2014 # Earning Credential by August 2022 Completion Rate
Note: Completion rates include those who earned a certificate, bachelor's degree or both.
Part-time Transfers 52 17 33% 52 17 33%
Full-time Transfers 266 194 73% 266 194 73%

The U.S. Department of Education collects information on institutions of higher education through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). The information is then packaged for public view through the College Navigator website.

View Webster University's College Navigator profile

Data Management: Outcomes Survey

Webster University’s Outcomes Survey asks recent graduates about the impact of their Webster experiences, their employment status, educational plans, and contact information. Recent graduates are invited via email to complete the survey approximately four weeks after each term’s graduation date. Alternatively, recent graduates may click on the link below to access the survey. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Take the Outcomes Survey

Contact the Office of Institutional Effectiveness

EMAIL OIE@WEBSTER.EDU

Learn More

Founded in 1915, Webster University is committed to ensuring high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence. Prepare for your next step and explore our community resources.