Student Right to Know

ACE student outcomes and graduation rate data

It’s your right to understand the data.

The Student Right-to-Know Act, passed by Congress in 1990, requires institutions eligible for Title IV funding, under the Higher Education Act of 1965, to calculate completion or graduation rates of certificate or degree-seeking, full-time students entering that institution, and to disclose these rates to current and prospective students.

The institutional statistics that are used as the “industry standard” by post-secondary higher education institutions to provide institutional or program outcomes under the Act can be found in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) used by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

The components commonly utilized to evaluate a college’s or university’s overall performance are completion/graduation rate, retention rate and time-to-completion, and are based on the percentage results of first-time, full-time bachelor’s-degree-seeking students during the most recent available academic year. However, ACE serves mostly a working adult population and thus does not have first-time, full-time students. As such, ACE calculates completion and retention rates per program and per degree level. In addition, ACE calculates accreditor reporting criteria or standards and state-level institutional reporting as applicable to provide information and comparison.

Although ACE is eligible to participate in Title IV funding, the College has chosen not to participate to keep educational costs low. Learn more about our Tuition and ROI.

2026 Student Right to Know

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Satisfaction Metrics

American College of Education takes great pride in having satisfied students and employers. We believe it is our duty to make the academic experience at ACE a meaningful and satisfying one. The following charts show how our students and employers of ACE graduates rate their satisfaction.

Student Surveys

Student Satisfaction

“I am satisfied with my experience at ACE thus far.”

Degree Level	Percent Satisfaction
Certificate	80%
Bachelor’s	94%
Master’s	87%
Doctorate/Specialist	84%

Percentages reﬂect students who responded “Very Satisﬁed,” “Satisﬁed,” or “Somewhat Satisﬁed.”

“I cannot say enough about ACE! So much support and learning! I am more than impressed. I tell everyone about taking courses through ACE! Thank you!!!!”
Ed.D. in Instructional Technology student

Net Promoter Score

How likely are you to recommend ACE to others?

A Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures how likely students are to recommend ACE to others. NPS scores range from -100 to 100. A higher NPS indicates stronger student loyalty and a greater likelihood of positive word‑of‑mouth, meaning more people would recommend ACE to others.

Degree Level	Net Promoter Score
Certificate	72
Bachelor’s	92
Master’s	83
Doctorate/Specialist	78

“This is a perfectly designed program at the most reasonable cost. I have recommended an Ed.D. to many of my teacher friends.”
Ed.D. in Special Education student

Student Choice

If I had to do it over, I would enroll at ACE again.

Degree Level	Percent Satisfaction
Certificate	86%
Bachelor’s	92%
Master’s	87%
Doctorate/Specialist	82%

Percentages reﬂect students who responded “Deﬁnitely Yes,” “Probably Yes,” or “Maybe Yes.”

“Best school I have ever been in and I can’t wait to continue.”
B.A. in Education Studies student

Source: Department of Institutional Analytics, RNL Priorities Survey for Online Learners, n = 2,252

Graduate Surveys

2025 Graduate Exit Survey

Improvement in Professional Skills

96%

of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “involvement in this program has strengthened my professional skills”

Effective Preparedness for Job

97%

of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “throughout my program, I was able to apply what I learned”

Overall Satisfaction with Program Learning Experiences

97%

of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “I am satisﬁed with my overall experience at ACE”

Goal Attainment

99%

of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “my program helped me achieve my goals”

“The flexibility of the program allowed me to participate with my job. I travel a lot for work and am in different time zones and it was never an issue.”
2025 ACE Graduate

Course Relevancy

98%

of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “courses were relevant to my career”

Course Content & Design

93%

of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “Course content and design were excellent”

Quality of Instruction

88%

of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “the quality of instruction by ACE faculty is excellent”

“I had some great professors that encouraged me and invested in my success.”
2025 ACE Graduate

Source: ACE college systems, Department of Institutional Analytics, 2025 Graduate Exit Survey

Student Assessment Measures: Education

ACE offers several programs that can lead to teacher or school administrator certiﬁcation in certain states.

and set by the state’s education department. The information below shows how ACE students performed on their certiﬁcation exams compared to the average pass rate for that state.

Data reflect the specified licensure exam results available from September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2025 unless otherwise stated.

Test Name	ACE Pass Rate	State Pass Rate
Arizona: Principal Subtest 1 EdReports database N= 24	88%	70%
Arizona: Principal Subtest 2 EdReports database N= 21	90%	78%
Florida: FELE EdReports database N= 339	91%	86%
Indiana: Principles of Learn & Teaching: K-6 TLCS ETS database N= 17	100%	95%
Indiana: Principles of Learn & Teaching: 7-12 TLCS ETS database N= 22	95%	94%
Indiana: Ed Leadership: Admin and Supervision TLCS ETS database N=39	97%	95%
Ohio: Educational Leadership EdReports database N= 127	89%	83%
Texas: Principal EdReports database N= 23	61%	66%

Source: 2025 Educational Testing Service/tlcs.ets.org for Indiana and Pearson Integrated EdReports/EdReports.org for other states

Enrollment, Completion and Retention Metrics

ACE is committed to helping as many students as possible achieve their career goals by providing high-quality education at an affordable cost. Once a student enrolls at ACE, we work hard to retain and support them to and through program completion. The following statistics provide information regarding ACE’s enrollment, completion and retention metrics.

Fall Enrollment by Degree Level

August 1, 2025 – October 31, 2025

Degree Level	# of Students
Bachelor’s	417
Master’s	10,579
Specialist	390
Doctorate	3,542
Certificate	1,212
Non-Degree	500
Total	16,640

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 2025 Fall Enrollment

Note: Students enrolled in a Micro-Credential program are reported in the Certificate count.

Degrees and Certiﬁcates Conferred by Degree Level

July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

Degree Level	# of Students
Bachelor’s	185
Master’s	5,702
Specialist	100
Doctorate	368
Certificate	923
Total	7,278

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 2025 Completions

Note: Students enrolled in a Micro-Credential program are reported in the Certificate count.

Jan. 2025 – Jan. 2026 Retention, Transfer and Withdrawal Rate by Degree

Degree Level	Retention Rate	Internal Degree Transfer Rate	Withdrawal Rate
Bachelor’s	82.1%	.2%	17.6%
Master’s	89.5%	.8%	9.8%
Specialist	81.7%	1.9%	16.3%
Doctorate	87.1%	2.9%	10.0%
Certificate	82.0%	2.3%	15.7%

Source: Department of Institutional Analytics

Enrollment Over Time – Fall Enrollment by Degree Level

The following statistics provide information regarding ACE’s enrollment over time from Fall of 2021 to Fall of 2025.

Degree Level	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Bachelor’s	71	142	277	359	417
Master’s	6,532	7,379	8,319	9,279	10,579
Specialist	100	118	130	230	390
Doctorate	1,456	1,690	2,038	2,850	3,542
Certificate	377	410	863	1,149	1,212
Non-Degree	230	264	334	396	500

Note: Students enrolled in a micro-credential are reported in the certiﬁcate count.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Fall Enrollment

Graduation Metrics

Time to Completion by Degree Level

Data below display the number of alumni and the average and median number of months it took those graduates to complete their program.

Understanding how long it typically takes to ﬁnish a degree helps students plan for work, family and other responsibilities. These metrics also show how closely ACE students stay on track toward graduation.

Data reﬂect students completing a program of study between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025.

Degree Level	# of Alumni	Average Months to Graduate	Median Months to Graduate
Bachelor’s	215	17	16
Master’s	6,145	15	15
Specialist	157	24	17
Doctorate	404	44	38
Certificate	913	11	11

Source: Department of Institutional Analytics

Graduation Rates Over Time by Degree Level

ACE calculates graduation rates each year. These rates show the percentage of students who ﬁnish their program within the expected amount of time, based on when they ﬁrst started in a speciﬁc group of students (called a cohort). Each student is counted only once for each degree level, even if they take more than one program at that level.

Bachelor’s

Expected Time-to-Completion: 3 Years

Cohort Starting Year	Completion Rate	# Students in Cohort
2022	65.67%	134
2021	68.52%	54
2020	68.29%	41
2019	86.66%	15
2018	84.08%	20

Master’s

Expected Time-to-Completion: 3 Years

Cohort Starting Year	Completion Rate	# Students in Cohort
2022	85.61%	5,379
2021	86.53%	4,231
2020	86.46%	4,468
2019	85.55%	3,556
2018	84.08%	3,223

Specialist

Expected Time-to-Completion: 7 Years

Cohort Starting Year	Completion Rate	# Students in Cohort
2018	57.14%	70
2017	53.52%	71
2016	65.00%	40
2015	57.57%	33
2013	52.17%	23

Doctorate

Expected Time-to-Completion: 10 Years

Cohort Starting Year	Completion Rate	# Students in Cohort
2015	41.18%	170
2014	33.33%	102
2013	45.83%	48

Enrollment Demographic Metrics

Fall Enrollment by Degree Level

Aug. 1, 2025 – Oct. 31, 2025

Enrollment by Race / Ethnicity

Degree Level	U.S. Non Resident	Hispanic	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian	Black or African American	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or more races	Unknown / Not Reported
Bachelor’s	4%	17%	0%	4%	19%	0%	47%	3%	6%
Master’s	5%	10%	0%	3%	9%	0%	67%	2%	5%
Specialist	8%	10%	1%	4%	19%	0%	50%	4%	6%
Doctorate	6%	10%	0%	5%	23%	0%	47%	3%	5%
Certificate	1%	10%	0%	3%	11%	0%	68%	2%	5%
Non-Degree	1%	14%	0%	3%	9%	0%	66%	1%	5%
Grand Total	5%	11%	0%	3%	12%	0%	62%	2%	5%

Degree Level	U.S. Non Resident	Hispanic	American Indian or Alaska Native	Asian	Black or African American	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or more races	Unknown / Not Reported
Bachelor’s	17	69	1	16	81		197	13	23
Master’s	571	1,092	21	265	901	11	7,040	182	496
Specialist	30	38	3	15	73		194	14	23
Doctorate	211	365	10	179	819	10	1,674	108	166
Certificate	9	120	2	37	131		822	27	64
Non-Degree	6	70	2	15	44	0	332	7	24
Grand Total	844	1,754	39	527	2,049	21	10,259	351	796

Enrollment by Gender

Degree Level	Female #	Female %	Male #	Male %	Unknown / Not Reported #	Unknown %
Bachelors	298	71%	76	18%	43	10%
Masters	7,636	72%	2,297	22%	646	6%
Specialist	292	75%	79	20%	19	5%
Doctorate	2,602	73%	759	21%	181	5%
Certificate	879	73%	255	21%	78	6%
Non-Degree	366	73%	106	21%	28	6%
Grand Total	12,073	73%	3,572	21%	995	6%

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 2025 Fall Enrollment

Note: Students enrolled in a microcredential are reported in the certificate count.

Enrollment Metrics

Average Class Size

Average class size reflects the average number of students enrolled across ACE courses.

24.50

Average Class Size

Class Size Breakdown

Class Size Range	% of Classes
2–9 students	10.1%
10–19 students	17.4%
20–29 students	28.2%
30–39 students	44.2%

Note: ACE had no courses in which enrollments exceeded 39 students.

Note: Data above excludes: EDTT5022 (Elementary Student Teaching and Seminar), EDTT5032 (Secondary Student Teaching and Seminar), ELTX5000 (ELTX Practicum Workspace), practicum courses, and courses with a single enrollment.

Source: Department of Institutional Analytics

Average Length of Service by Faculty Status

ACE employs both full‑time and part‑time faculty. The length of teaching service shown here
is based on how many years each faculty member has taught at ACE as of Dec. 31, 2025.

7.73

Average Years of Service for Full-Time Faculty

2.75

Average Years of Service for Part-Time Faculty

Source: Continuous Improvement

Continuing Education, Employment, and Earnings Metrics

After students graduate from ACE, they are invited to take an exit survey. This survey helps
ACE understand what worked well, what could be improved and how graduates plan to use
their degree.
The information below shows what graduates reported about continuing their education,
finding employment and their earnings after completing their program.

Further Certificates or Degrees, School of Choice by Degree Level

Graduations between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025

Students who graduated from an ACE program and indicated they were planning on pursuing
further certificates or degrees were asked where they intended to pursue those degrees. The
percentage of students responding that they would choose ACE is reported below.

Degree Level	Total Responses	% Selecting ACE
Bachelor’s	38	47.4%
Master’s	649	44.7%
Specialist	33	69.7%
Doctorate	24	50.0%
Certificate	78	47.4%
Non-Degree	13	46.2%
Total	835	46.2%

Source: ACE college systems, Department of Institutional Analytics, 2025 Graduate Exit Survey

Employment Rate at Graduation by Degree Level

Graduations between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025

Students were asked to indicate their level of employment at the time of
graduation/completion. The percentage reporting that they were employed full-time is
reported below.

Degree Level	Total Responses	% Employed Full-Time
Bachelor’s	83	84.3%
Master’s	2,530	95.9%
Specialist	70	97.1%
Doctorate	199	90.5%
Certificate	248	96.8%
Non-Degree	21	95.2%
Total	3,151	95.4%

Source: Department of Institutional Analytics, 2025 Graduate Exit Survey

Earnings Metrics

The information below shows what graduates reported about their earnings after completing their
program.

Salary Increase by Degree Level

Graduation between Jan. 1, 2025 – Dec. 31, 2025

Students who indicated they would receive a pay increase as a result of making a
career advancement or career change were asked to specify that raise in U.S. Dollars
per year. Their responses are reported below.

Degree Level	# Responses	Average Salary Increase
Bachelor’s	26	$13,634
Master’s	1,637	$6,727
Specialist	32	$7,500
Doctorate	97	$7,671
Certificate	120	$8,654
Total	1,924	$6,999

Source: Department of Institutional Analytics, 2025 Graduate Exit Survey

Annual Salary by Degree Level

Graduation between Jan. 1, 2025 – Dec. 31, 2025

Students were asked to provide their annual salary in U.S. Dollars at the time of
graduation. Their responses are reported below.

Degree Level	# Responses	Average Annual Salary
Bachelor’s	68	$57,859
Master’s	1,505	$64,350
Specialist	46	$73,717
Doctorate	132	$86,447
Certificate	146	$77,137
Non-Degree	12	$67,083
Total	1,909	$68,863

Source: Department of Institutional Analytics, 2025 Graduate Exit Survey

Click here for the IDOE EPP Comparative Data Matrix.
Click here for annual reporting measures required by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).

Archived Student Right to Know Data

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