In compliance with Council on Higher Education Accreditation and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges standards, Bridgewater College establishes goals for student learning and assesses the success of students in achieving those goals. These institutional goals are aligned with the College’s Strategic Plan 2025, with particular emphasis on Connected Learning. Multiple measures are used to document student success, and the established goals cover the range of student constituencies served and programs offered by the institution.
Student achievement goals are established in the following areas: Retention, Graduation, Post-Graduate Employment, and Development of Integration Skills.
Retention Goals and Outcomes
Bridgewater College has established retention and persistence goals for first-time cohort and transfer students. First-time cohort (FTC) students are expected to return for the second year at a rate equal to the median of Bridgewater’s institutional peer group. The same target is set for transfer student persistence (return or graduation).
| Cohort | Peer Median | BC FTC | BC Transfers |
| 2016 | 78% | 75% | 84% |
| 2017 | 78% | 68% | 80% |
| 2018 | 79% | 72% | 73% |
| 2019 | 80% | 71% | 77% |
| 2020 | 76% | 68% | 67% |
| 2021 | 78% | 75% | 88% |
Graduation Goals and Outcomes
Bridgewater College has established graduation goals for undergraduate students beginning as first-time students as well as transferring students, and program completion goals for graduate students.
First-time cohort (FTC) students are expected to graduate at a rate equal to than the median four-year and six-year graduation rates of Bridgewater’s institutional peer group. The four-year graduation rate target is also used for transfer student graduation. (Transfer student cohorts were first established beginning in 2012.)
| Cohort | Peer Median (4-yr Grad) | BC FTC 4-yr Grad | BC Transfers 4-yr Grad | Peer Median (6-yr Grad) | BC FTC 6-yr Grad |
| 2011 | 58% | 53% | N/Av | 63% | 61% |
| 2012 | 58% | 58% | 61% | 64% | 64% |
| 2013 | 58% | 53% | 71% | 66% | 59% |
| 2014 | 57% | 57% | 67% | 64% | 63% |
| 2015 | 59% | 55% | 69% | 67% | 62% |
| 2016 | 60% | 52% | 71% | 67% | 58% |
For graduate students, at least 95% are expected to complete their program.
| Cohort | Graduate Student Completion Goal | BC Completion Rate |
| 2017M | 95% | 86% |
| 2018M | 95% | 100% |
| 2019M | 95% | 90% |
| 2020M | 95% | 89% |
Post-Graduate Employment
Bridgewater College has established goals for post-graduate employment outcomes for students who complete undergraduate and graduate programs. The goal is for Bridgewater’s undergraduate employment rate at one year post-graduation to meet the average national full-time employment rate documented by the NACE survey (National Association of Colleges and Employers).
Bridgewater’s employment rate is measured by administration of a series of surveys in which graduating seniors are given an opportunity to report employment outcomes at graduation and at regular intervals throughout the first year post-graduation. The methodology and calculations provide a metric that is comparable to the NACE average employment rate.
| Class of | NACE Average Employment Rate | BC Employment Rate |
| 2016 | 53% | 61% |
| 2017 | 53% | 52% |
| 2018 | 55% | 54% |
| 2019 | 55% | 56% |
| 2020 | 59% | 55% |
| 2021 | 60% | 62% |
| 2022 | TBD | 64% |
At least two-thirds of graduate students are expected to be employed in the field within six months of completing the graduate program. Note that students completed BC’s first graduate program in 2019.
| Class of | Employment Goal | BC Employment Rate |
| 2019 | 67% | 62% |
| 2020 | 67% | 48% |
| 2021 | 67% | 84% |
Connected Learning
Bridgewater students should be adept at both cumulative and transformational integration and at attending to and explaining the processes involved. The development of integration skills is a clear component of Bridgewater’s mission and general education program, and each student’s proficiency in this area is measured in the evaluation of the FILA-450 portfolio (a graduation requirement) on demonstration of integration skills.
The overall average of integration sub-scores for each graduating class is expected to be at least 80, with fewer than 10% of students scoring below a 60 on the integration sub-score.
| Class of | Average Integration Sub-score | Students Scoring 60 or Lower |
| 2017 | 78.7 | 5.4% |
| 2018 | 78.4 | 10.3% |
| 2019 | 80.8 | 5.6% |
| 2020 | 80.6 | 4.3% |
| 2021 | 87.2 | 1.6% |
| 2022 | 90.7 | 1.8% |
