Case Study: University of Texas at San Antonio achieves a 4% increase in 4‑year graduation rate and streamlined advising with Ellucian Degree Works

How the University of Texas at San Antonio transformed the degree planning and student advising processes

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) faced persistent gaps in advising—paper-based processes, inconsistent practices across departments, and advisors managing large caseloads—that were keeping students from graduating in four years. To address this, UTSA partnered with Ellucian and implemented the Ellucian Degree Works online degree‑planning solution to modernize advising and give students a clear, centralized view of their progress.

Ellucian worked with UTSA to relaunch Degree Works with an intensive marketing and adoption campaign (web prompts, training videos, posters, t‑shirts, etc.), driving adoption from 14% to 87%. The tool gave students and advisors instant visibility into degree progress, improved course scheduling and transfer processing, and helped empower students to plan careers; as a result UTSA’s four‑year graduation rate rose by 4%.

University of Texas at San Antonio

Edgar Guajardo

University of Texas at San Antonio