Page Contents

Key Statistics

Retention rate: Percentage of enrolled students who enrolled a term one year or longer after their first semester of program admission/readmission.

Table shows the number of accepted applicants and the retention rates for each cohort starting with 2017-18 cohort and going through 2024-25 cohort.
Cohort Academic Year # of Accepted Applicants Who Enrolled Retention Rate1
2024-25 160 93.1
2023-24 172 89.5
2022-23 143 91.6
2021-22 141 89.4
2020-21 149 87.2
2019-20 154 95.5
2018-19 133 90.2
2017-18 100 90.0
Data as of February 2026. Note: Cohort Academic Year is based on the semester in which the applicant applied to begin or continue in his/her program. These numbers include applicants seeking readmission into the MLIS program. Cohort Academic Year runs from fall - summer term (ex. 2018-19 is Fall 2018, Spring 2019, and Summer 2019 data combined).
1 Withdrawn or incomplete applications are not considered in the applicant pool. 

 

Average time to degree completion

Table is for the MLIS cohorts starting with 2017-18 cohort through 2024-25 cohort. The columns show the number of graduates as well as the mean, median, mode, and standard deviations for how long it took the cohort to graduate (in years).
Cohort Academic Year Number of Graduates Time to Completion (in years)
Mean Median Mode Standard Deviation
2024-25 5 1.9 1.3 1.3 0.76
2023-24 70 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.32
2022-23 99 2.4 2.3 2.0 0.44
2021-22 106 2.7 2.7 2.3 0.63
2020-21 112 2.7 2.7 2.3 0.65
2019-20 135 2.9 2.7 2.3 0.70
2018-19 115 2.8 2.7 2.3 0.73
2017-18 80 2.8 2.7 2.3 0.67

Note: Data as of February 2026. Note: Cohort Academic Year is based on the semester in which the applicant applied to begin the MLIS program. Applicants who sought readmission into the MLIS program are reported for their new academic cohort. Time to Completion only include semesters in which the student was registered for MLIS courses.

Student Acceptance, Retention, and Graduation Rates  

The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program has competitive admissions due to the program's high volume of quality applicants. The program accepts new applicants twice per year (fall and spring semesters) and students are contacted by the VSU Graduate School when an application decision has been made. Students are assigned a high-quality academic advisor upon admission and typically take approximately 2 1/2 - 3 years to complete the MLIS degree program.

This table shows the number of applications, number of applications and number of applications denied for each cohort year of MLIS, starting with cohort 2017-18 through 2024-25.
Cohort Academic Year Total # of Applications1 # of Applicants Accepted # of Applicants Denied % Accepted
2025-26 606 228 378 37.6
2024-25 561 184 377 32.8
2023-24 424 203 221 47.9
2022-23 337 151 186 44.8
2021-22 328 157 171 47.9
2020-21 367 156 211 42.5
2019-20 436 175 261 40.1
2018-19 446 137 309 30.7
2017-18 396 100 296 25.3
Note: Data as of February 2026. Cohort Academic Year is based on the semester in which the applicant applied to begin or continue in his/her program. These numbers include applicants seeking readmission into the MLIS program.
1 Withdrawn or incomplete applications are not considered in the applicant pool.
This table shows the number and percentage of applicants enrolled, percentage of students retained in program one year later, percentage of enrolled students who graduates with MLIS degree, and percentage of students who have not graduated and are still active students. This is for the academic cohorts starting with 2017-18 cohort year through 2024-25 cohort year.
Cohort Academic Year # of Accepted Applicants Who Enrolled % of Accepted Applicants Who Enrolled % of Enrolled Students Who Were Retained in Program One Year Later2 % of Enrolled Students Who Graduated with MLIS Degree3 % of Enrolled Students Who Have Not Graduated Yet But Are Considered Active Students4
2024-25 160 87.0 93.1 3.1 96.9
2023-24 172 84.7 89.5 40.7 59.3
2022-23 143 94.7 91.6 69.2 30.8
2021-22 141 89.8 89.4 75.2 24.8
2020-21 149 95.5 87.2 75.2 24.8
2019-20 154 88.0 95.5 87.7 12.3
2018-19 133 97.1 90.2 86.5 13.5
2017-18 100 100.0 90.0 80.0 20.0
Data as of February 2026. Note: Cohort Academic Year is based on the semester in which the applicant applied to begin or continue in his/her program. These numbers include applicants seeking readmission into the MLIS program. Each semester, new graduates can originate from any of these cohort academic years.
2 Students who complete their program in less than three semesters are identified as retained in the table.
3 It typically takes part-time students about 2 ½ to 3 years to complete the MLIS degree program.
4 An active student is considered a student who has enrolled in MLIS coursework within the last three semesters.
mlis-num-lis-comps-by-term.png
Updated February 2026

Student Learning Outcome Assessment (SLOA) Results

Students enrolled in the MLIS program are assessed throughout their program to ensure they are meeting programs expectations. The assessments are based on American Library Association standards and the program's student learning outcomes. Assessment data are collected within an electronic assessment management system and are reviewed annually by the MLIS Assessment Committee.

Student Learning Outcome Assessment Performance Academic Year 2012-2023

sloa-graph.jpg

Employment Outcomes and Stakeholder Surveys

The MLIS program systematically contacts three types of stakeholders in order to gain valuable feedback on the program and its intended outcomes. MLIS students are asked to evaluate their preparation to enter the professional workforce during their final semester of the program. The same evaluation categories, which are based on ALA standards, are used on the MLIS alumni and employer survey. Alumni are contacted every two years and employers are contacted every three years to solicit feedback on program effectiveness. The results from these surveys are analyzed by the MLIS Assessment Committee on an annual basis and reported out to program faculty.


Alumni Employment Status 12-24 Months After Graduation

Program Graduates and Response Rate Calendar Year of Graduation Academic Year (Sum. - Spr.)
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

2020-21
Number of Graduates 65 47 49 71 68 100 86 120
Number of Survey Respondents 35 32 28 31 33 36 28 12
Survey Response Rate 53.8 68.1 57.1 43.7 48.5 36.0 32.6 10.0
Percentage of Alumni Survey Respondents Employed in the Library & Information Field 94.3 90.6 78.6 96.8 93.9 94.4 100.0 83.3
Percentage of Alumni Survey Respondents Employed in an Academic or Public Library 85.7 75.0 64.3 84.4 82.4 77.8 96.4 75.0

 

 MLIS Program Stakeholder Survey Results