2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Graduation On-Time Analysis and Lessons (GOAL) Project: Using Undergraduate Transcript Data to Identify Causes of Graduation Delays in Industrial and Systems Engineering

Presented at Industrial Engineering Division (IED) Technical Session 1: Projects, Mentoring, and Student Success

Four-year graduation remains a significant challenge in U.S. undergraduate engineering programs, with programs and universities alike facing pressure to reduce time to graduation. According to the most recently available data from 2015, reported by the American Society for Engineering Education, only about one-third of engineering students nationwide completed their degrees within four years. Delayed graduation results in higher financial and opportunity costs for students and institutions. Each additional year in college can cost $40,000-$60,000 in tuition, fees, and living expenses, based on institutional cost-of-attendance benchmarks. It can also add about $75,000 in lost wages, according to reported average starting salaries for new Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) graduates. The Graduation On-Time Analysis and Lessons (GOAL) project was developed to investigate the causes of delayed graduation in an undergraduate Industrial and Systems Engineering program at a public R1 university (hereafter, “the study site”). Using transcript and grade history data of students who entered between 2015 and 2019, the study applied context-specific analytics to identify key factors contributing to delayed graduation. The most common graduation delay causes were failing to pass prerequisite mathematics courses on time and taking co-op or gap semesters, without remedying the delays through summer coursework. Based on these findings, the department adopted a policy to identify students behind in graduation progress and support them through academic advising, encouraging them to take summer coursework to graduate on time. More broadly, the GOAL project provides a transferable framework that leverages transcript data and the structure of course prerequisites and availability to identify bottlenecks and support on-time graduation across engineering programs.

Authors

Dr. Win P. V. Nguyen http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1644-0986 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Dr. Win Nguyen is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. His primary focus and passion is undergraduate engineering education, where he is dedicated to fostering student growth and development, whether a student in his classes, is a teaching assistant or research assistant, or a senior design student. He is also committed to coaching students on study skills, technical problem-solving, career preparation, and professional development.
His research interests include applying undergraduate data analytics to enhance student learning and career outcomes, as well as the responsible and effective use of generative AI in education. He is also enthusiastic about strengthening industry–academic connections, frequently incorporating real-world examples and practices from industry to enrich teaching materials.
Puwadol Oak Dusadeerungsikul Chulalongkorn University [biography]

Puwadol Oak Dusadeerungsikul, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. His research focuses on Operations Research, with emphasis on mathematical modeling, optimization, and algorithm development for complex decision-making problems. His work studies scheduling, routing, and resource allocation systems that arise in real-world applications such as logistics, agricultural, and healthcare systems. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University in 2020 and his M.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2015.
Dr. Natalie Stanislaw Cherbaka Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Natalie Cherbaka is a Collegiate Professor at Virginia Tech in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE), Affiliate in the Honors College, and the ISE Undergraduate Program Director. Currently, she instructs the ISE capstone program, partnering with approximately 50 industry sponsors and 200 students annually. Her contributions to teaching have been recognized internationally by the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers (IISE) with the Innovation in Education Award for the development of an educational game, and at Virginia Tech by the Provost’s XCaliber Award for technology-enhanced learning and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She has also served as a board member of the international College Industry Council on Material Handling Education and as an IISE Scholarship Trustee and Chair. Prior to academia, she worked in operations management at IBM, and as an independent manufacturing consultant. She holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Taylor University, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.

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