Student Achievement

Student Achievement at William & Mary

William & Mary’s mission statement is:

A preeminent, public research university, grounded in the liberal arts and sciences since 1693, William & Mary is a vibrant and inclusive community. Through close mentoring and collaboration, we inspire lifelong learning, generate new knowledge, and expand understanding. We cultivate creative thinkers, principled leaders, and compassionate global citizens equipped for lives of meaning and distinction. William & Mary convenes great minds and hearts to meet the most pressing needs of our time.

W&M evaluates student achievement by employing multiple measures consistent with our mission, students, and programs. The following summary table lists the university’s student achievement indicators and, where appropriate, thresholds and targets for each. We encourage you to contact our Assistant Provost for Institutional Accreditation & Effectiveness if you have questions or would like additional information.

Indicator	Threshold	2026 Target
First-Time First-Year Students 8-Year Graduation Rate^1,2	90%	95%
First-Time First-Year Students 6-Year Graduation Rate²	90%	94%
First-Time First-Year Students Retention Rate²	94%	97%
Graduate Degrees Awarded³	1040	1330
STEM Degrees Awarded³	665	825
Median Earnings 10 Years Post-Graduation (% Difference Compared to Average of All 4-year Institutions)⁴	35%	40%

¹Key Student Completion Indicator
²Using data for the institutions in W&M’s peer group list from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), thresholds are established as the median value of the 25 institutions, and targets are established as the median value of those peer institutions performing better than W&M_.
³Thresholds are set as the average of the last 8 years, and targets are established using a 2% growth year-over-year, beginning in Reporting Year 2023.
⁴Threshold is 2% below the minimum value. Target is 2% above the maximum value.

First-Time First-Year Students 8-Year Graduation Rate

Reporting Year	Fall Entering Cohort	N	8-Year Graduation Rate
2016	2008	1,386	91%
2017	2009	1,391	91%
2018	2010	1,397	92%
2019	2011	1,485	93%
2020	2012	1,465	92%
2021	2013	1,479	91%
2022	2014	1,511	92%
2023	2015	1,517	92%
2024	2016	1,504

Disaggregated Data:

Underrepresented Minority Students

Reporting Year	Fall Entering Cohort	Black/African American	Hispanic/ Latino	American Indian/Alaskan Native	Multiracial
2016	2008	86%	90%	100%	92%
2017	2009	91%	95%	100%	90%
2018	2010	91%	91%	100%	88%
2019	2011	86%	93%	50%	85%
2020	2012	85%	90%	100%	89%
2021	2013	89%	90%	67%	96%
2022	2014	87%	93%	100%	86%
2023	2015	90%	93%	100%	88%
2024	2016

Pell-Recipient Status

Reporting Year	Fall Entering Cohort	Pell Recipient	Not Pell Recipient
2017	2009	89%	91%
2018	2010	87%	93%
2019	2011	91%	93%
2020	2012	90%	92%
2021	2013	92%	90%
2022	2014	88%	92%
2023	2015	91%	92%
2024	2016	85%	92%

Gender/Sex

_{Historically at W&M, gender/sex has been a dichotomous student-reported variable. Since 2019, W&M students have had the option of adding their gender identity to their record in the student information system. Because this information is missing for a significant proportion of the student body, W&M disaggregates here by gender/sex.}

Reporting Year	Fall Entering Cohort	Male	Female
2017	2009	89%	92%
2018	2010	90%	94%
2019	2011	92%	93%
2020	2012	90%	93%
2021	2013	87%	93%
2022	2014	89%	94%
2023	2015	90%	93%
2024	2016

First-Time First-Year Students 6-Year Graduation Rate

Reporting Year	Fall Entering Cohort	N	6-Year Graduation Rate	Transfer Out Rate
2016	2010	1,397	91%	7%
2017	2011	1,485	92%	5%
2018	2012	1,465	91%	6%
2019	2013	1,479	90%	7%
2020	2014	1,511	91%	6%
2021	2015	1,517	91%	6%
2022	2016	1,504	91%	6%
2023	2017	1,529	91%	6%
2024	2018

First-time First-Year Students Retention Rate

Reporting Year	Fall Entering Cohort	N	Retention Rate
2016	2015	1,518	95%
2017	2016	1,507	95%
2018	2017	1,531	95%
2019	2018	1,545	95%
2020	2019	1,530	93%
2021	2020	1,521	93%
2022	2021	1,684	95%
2023	2022	1,642	95%
2024	2023	1,619

Graduate Degrees Awarded

Reporting Year	Master’s Degrees	Education Specialist Degree (EDS)	Doctoral Degrees	First-Professional Degrees (Juris Doctor)	Total
2016	554	10	69	225	858
2017	652	6	85	208	951
2018	780	1	94	187	1,062
2019	737	7	85	230	1,059
2020	736	7	96	179	1,018
2021	744	11	60	180	995
2022	810	13	84	226	1,133
2023	963	7	66	217	1,253
2024

STEM Degrees Awarded*

Reporting Year	Undergraduate STEM (1^st & 2^nd Major)	Graduate STEM	Total STEM Degrees Awarded
2016	459	80	539
2017	480	149	629
2018	449	181	630
2019	437	166	603
2020	463	177	640
2021	475	189	664
2022	581	255	836
2023	520	257	777

_{*STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Data are based on programs classified as STEM on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s STEM Designated Degree Program List. (https://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/stem-list.pdf).}

Median Earnings 10 Years Post-Graduation*

Reporting Year**	William & Mary Graduates Median Earnings (10yr)	All Four-Year Institutions Median Earnings (10yr)	% Difference
2023	$69,897	$50,806	38%
2024	$73,490	$53,617	37%

_{*College Scorecard data: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?231624-William-Mary}_{**College Scorecard data is typically updated each summer. W&M records the data reported by College Scorecard annually on July 1 of the year indicated as “Reporting Year.”}