A Benchmark Study of Construction Master Degree Programs

Introduction

 Clemson University’s research-oriented goals during the next ten years are:

 The top research universities are highly competitive and are able to attract top-notch graduate students.   Therefore, the decision was made to conduct a benchmarking study for the purpose of comparing Clemson’s MCSM degree program with comparable master degree programs at other universities.  The master’s level was selected for benchmarking purposes because Clemson does not have a doctoral program.  By looking at what the competition is doing, a graduate program can assess its strengths and weaknesses and thereby focus its limited resources on improvement in key areas of attracting and retaining quality graduate students.  Such key areas are tuition rates, research opportunities, assistantship stipends and office space availability.

Research Methodology

 A survey of questions addressing key areas of attracting and retaining quality graduate students was emailed to graduate coordinators or department chairs at those universities with comparable master’s degree programs.  The following fifteen universities were included in the benchmark study: Arizona State University, Auburn University, Bowling Green University, Clemson University, Colorado State University, Florida International University, Michigan State University, Oregon State University, Purdue University, Southern Polytechnic State University, Texas A&M University, Virginia Polytechnic State University, University of Florida, University of Oklahoma, and University of Washington.  This list was based on those graduate programs in the United States recognized by the American Council of Construction Education (ACCE).

The survey assessed the following attributes and sub-attributes about the master’s degree programs:

·          Program – name, department, college, age, total required credit hours, thesis requirement, full-time semester credit load.

·          Admission Requirements – GPA, GRE, TOEFL scores, years of construction experience.

·          Tuition Rates – in-state and out-of-state, graduate assistant stipend, tuition for graduate students with assistantships.

·          Faculty – number in department, number teaching graduate classes, average class size, existence of graduate program coordinator, release time for coordinator, and summer expectations.

·          Graduate Students – number of full-time and part-time students, number of graduate assistants, and office space characteristics.

·          Distance Learning – existence and type of program, number of students involved, in-state and out-of-state tuition.

·          Research – number of graduate students involved, required number of funded research grants within a specific time frame, value of research grants.

 The data was gathered from survey responses via email, websites of the various universities, and through follow-up phone calls with the graduate coordinators or department chairs.  The results were compiled in the spreadsheet format shown in the Appendix.

Results

The following is a summary of key benchmark attributes by range and average for the entire sample of all fifteen universities’ master’s degree programs.  See the Appendix for specific information relative to any particular institution.

Program Attributes

All fifteen universities’ master’s degree programs range in age from seven to thirty years with the average being sixteen years old.  Of the fourteen programs that offer a thesis and/or non-thesis option, the total credit hours for the degree ranges from thirty to forty-five credit hours with the average being thirty-six credit hours. The credit hours represent a mix of quarter and semester hours.  Only Colorado State University requires the thesis option, which is based on thirty total credit hours for the degree. 

Admission Requirements

The vast majority of institutions require a minimum of a 3.0 undergraduate GPA.  Southern Polytechnic State University requires a 2.75 GPA and Auburn University did not indicate any preferred score. 

As far as GRE scores, eight institutions did not indicate a minimum required score; two universities indicate a satisfactory score; and the other five universities range from a low of 1000 to a high of 1150 out of a possible 2400 with the average being 1155.  With the changes in GRE scoring made as of October 1, 2002, the universities will need to determine new scores based on an aggregate of 1600 instead of 2400 for the quantitative and analytical portions of the test as well as a new score based on an aggregate of 6 for the newly instituted writing portion of the test. 

As for the computer-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) test scores, the range of minimum acceptable scores for twelve respondents is from 173 - 225 with the average being 210 for the computer-based test.  Bowling Green University, Southern Polytechnic State University and Virginia Tech did not indicate a minimum TOEFL score. 

Only four universities indicate a work experience requirement that ranges from 1 - 5 years with the average being 3.5 years.  The majority of universities do not have a specific work experience requirement. 

Tuition Rates

For in-state (or resident) tuition, all fifteen programs range from $1,188 - $4,233 per semester with an average of $2,226.  Out-of-state (or non-resident) tuition rates for all fifteen programs range from $3,077 - $8,415 per semester with the average being $5,781.  This data is based on tuition rates for 2002-2003 as reported on the various universities’ web sites.

The fifteen institutions vary widely on graduate assistantship stipends and work hours per week.  Four universities pay in the range of $1,600 - $2,430 ($2,008 average) for ten hours of work per week per semester.  Nine universities pay in the range of $2,400 - $5,850 ($4,022 average) for twenty hours of work per week per semester.  Michigan State’s stipend depends on the value of research projects in the department.  The University of Washington offers no departmental stipends and Bowling Green University and Virginia Tech waive tuition in lieu of providing stipends. 

The majority of the respondents indicated that tuition is waived for in-state and out-of-state graduate assistants.  Only Arizona State University, Clemson University and Texas A&M University require that graduate students pay some amount of tuition. 

Faculty Attributes

The fifteen institutions also vary widely on the number of dedicated faculty teaching graduate courses and class size.  All programs have anywhere from one to twenty-two faculty members teaching at least one course on the graduate level.  This means that almost sixty percent of the faculty in any given department is teaching at least one course at the graduate level.  The average number is seven for all institutions. 

The average class sizes for all universities range from five to twenty-four students with the average being fourteen.  Factors such as the health of the economy, the existence of a distance learning program and the attraction of international students can directly affect the number of graduate students in a class.

All fifteen institutions in this benchmark study have a graduate coordinator.  Of these coordinators, eight are released from teaching one class per year to perform various coordinator duties.  Only four graduate coordinators are not given documented release time.  Twelve coordinators are expected and paid to work during the summers; one coordinator is expected to work without compensation in the summer; and two coordinators do not have to work during the summer.

Graduate Student Attributes

The number of full-time and part-time students varies widely among all fifteen construction master’s degree programs.  All programs have anywhere from three to sixty-five full-time students with an average of twenty-nine students.  The average number of part-time students in all programs is twenty-two.  Most graduate students in all fifteen programs receive some sort of assistantship stipend.  The numbers range from one to thirty with the average being fourteen graduate assistants.  All universities except Clemson University and University of Washington provide an office space with desks, computers and filing cabinets for their students in the graduate program.

Distance Learning Program Attributes

Only five out of fifteen universities in the benchmark study offer the master degree via distance learning using various methods such as videotapes, CDs, streaming video and the Internet to an average of thirty-three distance learning students.  The total program cost for in-state distance learning students ranges from $2,522 - $16,500 with the average cost at $7,759.  Out-of-state distance learning students can pay anywhere from $2,522 - $19,323 ($14,051 average) for the entire program. 

Research Attributes

Although thirteen master’s degree programs indicate that there are no specific obligations to get a certain number of research grants within a certain time frame, all full-time faculty members, especially those on tenure-track, are expected to do research.  Only Michigan State University and Texas A&M University indicate that specific department goals have been established in terms of number of projects and publications per year.  Based on fourteen responses, there are an average number of eight graduate students that help conduct research. 

The value of funded research grants varies widely by program with eleven universities ranging from $37,608 - $7,000,000 ($1,242,600 average).  Texas A&M reported anywhere from $1,000 - $350,000 for six to eight projects and Southern Polytechnic University and University of Washington did not report any type of value for research.

 Tables 1 and 2 combine certain attributes to provide comparisons of effort on distance learning and research with the noted number of full-time faculty along with a comparison among programs of total value for out-of-state graduate students.  Other than the University of Washington, which provides no departmental stipend or reduced tuition, the rest of the universities offer packages as shown in Table 3 for out-of-state graduate students based on twenty hours per week.

Conclusion

Clemson University’s master’s degree program is slightly younger (fourteen years) than the benchmark average (sixteen years).  The admission requirements equal or exceed those of the other universities in the survey.  Requiring a higher quality student helps insure a high quality graduate program overall, but also may result in admitting fewer students.

Clemson’s full-time graduate student in-state semester tuition of $3,042 is substantially higher than the average for all programs ($2,226).  The same is true for full-time out-of-state students:  Clemson charges $6,466 per semester while the average for all programs is $5,281.  Students will tend to be attracted to university graduate programs having lower tuition rates.

In terms of graduate student stipends, Clemson offers $1,600 for ten hours of work per week while all fifteen programs range between  $2,008 and $4,022 depending upon the number of required work hours.  Therefore, Clemson University’s stipend is substantially lower in terms of dollars and hours and is a detriment in attracting quality graduate students.  In terms of the amount of tuition graduate students with assistantships must pay per semester, Clemson is among the highest.  Whereas Clemson charges $780 per semester, twelve of the other fourteen programs waive tuition completely.  Not waiving or charging for tuition could serve as another detriment to attracting quality graduate students.

Clemson has substantially fewer faculty members (seven) as compared to all programs (average of twelve).  More research can be done when there are more faculty members.  Furthermore, Clemson’s program has only three of its full-time faculty teaching graduate courses whereas there is an average of seven for all institutions. 

The number of full-time graduate students in Clemson’s graduate program (fourteen) is substantially less than the average for all programs (twenty-nine).  With more students, more research can be conducted.  Furthermore, Clemson provides no office space for its graduate students whereas twelve of the other programs do provide adequate office space.  Some offices have desks, computers, white boards, filing cabinets and bookcases, depending on the university.  The inability to offer office space is a detriment to attracting quality students.

Clemson University is one of four universities in the benchmark study that offers a full degree graduate program via distance learning; ten programs do not; and Southern Polytechnic State University offers some courses via CD and the Internet.  The number of students enrolled in Clemson’s MCSM distance learning program is substantially smaller (fifteen) than the average for other programs that offer a master’s degree via distance learning (thirty-three).  Clemson’s in-state distance learning total program costs of $9,360 is a little above average for all other distance learning programs ($9,139).  As for out-of-state tuition for distance learning students, the total program cost at Clemson is $16,776 while all four programs average $15,390.  Tuition for out-of-state distance learning students does not seem to affect the quality and quantity of students because these students are typically employed full-time in mid-level management positions and can more readily afford the tuition.  Since the inception of the distance learning component of the master’s degree program, Clemson has experienced a reduction in full-time US students, which has resulted in accepting a larger number of overseas students who bring with them limitations in their ability to serve the program’s needs.  This is expected to continue until more meaningful benefits are offered to study in the graduate program.

Although Clemson’s MCSM program has only two graduate students conducting research, the average for all fifteen programs is eight students.  Larger programs are able to conduct more research and thus involve more graduate students.  They are also more effective in attracting students by offering better assistantship packages.  The number and value of funded research grants is relatively small at Clemson as compared to other programs.

If Clemson University’s MCSM program is to attract more quality full-time graduate students in the future, it must provide all graduate students with quality office space and a more attractive financial package in terms of value.  This could be realized through lower to no tuition and/or higher stipend amounts.  Only then can the MCSM program help the university achieve its goals of improving the national competitiveness of graduate student admissions and financial aid and increasing research and sponsored programs.

References

Arizona State University. URL http://construction.asu.edu

 Auburn University. URL http://www.bsci.auburn.edu/gradprogram

Bowling Green University. URL http://bgsu.edu/colleges/technology/graduate

Clemson University. URL http://www.clemson.edu/caah/csm

Colorado State University. URL http://www.cahs.colostate.edu/mtcm

Florida International University. URL http://www.eng.fiu.edu/cm

Michigan State University. URL http://www.canr.msu.edu/cm

Oregon State University. URL http://www.ccee.orst.edu

 Purdue University. URL http://www.tech.purdue/bcm

Southern Polytechnic State University. URL http://cnst.spsu.edu

Texas A&M University. URL http://www.archnt2.tamu.edu/cosc

Virginia Polytechnic State University. URL http://www.arch.vt.edu/caus/bc

University of Florida. URL http://www.bcn.ufl.edu

University of Oklahoma. URL http://www.cus.ou.edu

University of Washington. URL http://www.depts.washington.edu/cmweb  

  Appendix