Prairie View A&M University is a public, comprehensive, historically black, land grant institution of higher education. Its mission commits it to serving a diverse ethnic and socioeconomic population. First generation students comprise a high percentage of its undergraduate population. The University is committed to achieving the goals of Closing the Gaps: The Texas Higher Education Plan, which addresses participation (access and enrollment), success (degree completion), excellence (performance) and research (basic and applied). The University aims to produce graduates who “possess self-sufficiency and professional competencies.” Salient student achievement goals and concomitant measures include but are not limited to college access of first-time, full-time, degree seeking freshmen who persist after one year; persistence of first-time full-time, degree seeking freshmen who earn a baccalaureate degree in six years; state licensure certification rate of teacher education graduates; state licensure exam pass rate of nursing graduates; and state licensure exam pass rate of engineering graduates. An additional measure deemed a potent determiner of upward social and economic mobility of graduates is the percent of baccalaureate degree recipients who within a year of earning the bachelor’s degree gain entry to graduate or professional study in disciplines in which African Americans are underrepresented.
Below is a snapshot of the goals, targets, and achievement of undergraduate students at Prairie View A&M University.
| Goals for Student Achievement* | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |||
| Target | Actual | Target | Actual | Target | Actual | |
| Percent of first-time, full-time, degree-seeking freshmen who earn a baccalaureate degree within six academic years | 36.0% | 36.84% | 36.2% | 35.95% | 36.2% | 34.02% |
| Persistence rate of first-time, full-time, degree-seeking freshmen students after one academic year | 73.0% | 67.13% | 70.0% | 66.21% | 70.0% | 66.12% |
| Percent of baccalaureate graduates who are first generation college graduates | 50.0% | 56.06% | 50.0% | 36.71% | 50.0% | 40.0% |
| Certification rate of teacher education graduates | 63.0% | 59.60% | 60.0% | 59.70% | 60.0% | 87.0% |
| State licensure exam pass rate of engineering graduates | 50.0% | 43.0% | 50.0% | 50.0% | 50.0% | 10.0% |
| State licensure pass exam rate of nursing graduates | 99.0% | 92.9% | 99.0% | 91.2% | 99.0% | 97.3% |
*Data source: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The full data set may be found on the University Success Measures page of the University Fact Book.
| Year of Graduation from Undergraduate School** | Total Number of Graduates in the Undergraduate Class | Students Admitted to and in Attendance at a Graduate or Professional School in a Degree Program in which Blacks are Underrepresented | Target | Actual |
| FY 2012 | 938 | 264 | 25% | 28.14% |
| FY 2013 | 993 | 280 | 25% | 28.19% |
| FY 2014 | 1090 | 220 | 25% | 20.18% |
**Data come from the National Student Clearinghouse and are based on fiscal years from July 1 – June 30.