University Of Florida Commencement Convocation PDF Download

This information brief highlights the graduation rates for full-time first-time-in-college students in Florida's State University System (SUS) institutions as well above the national average for public four-year colleges, based on early release data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Of those who entered the SUS as first-time, full-time students in fall 1997, 58% completed their bachelor degree at the same institution by 2002-2003, compared to 53% of students at public institutions nationwide. Florida ranked tenth among the states in overall graduation rates, with graduation rates for Hispanic and black students ranked eleventh and fifth respectively. Among the ten largest states, Florida was third in overall graduation rates and first in graduation rates for black and Hispanic students. This brief compares graduation rates for student entering SUS in 1997, by asking the following questions: (1) What factors reduce graduation rates? (2) What factors improve graduation rates? (3) What happens to students who do not graduate in six years? (4) When do students leave? (5) Why do some students take longer than four years? (6) How long does it usually take students to finish? (7) What are the limitations of graduation rates? and (8) How are graduation rates calculated? The Florida SUS reports that overall 63% of freshman students who entered in 1997 graduated within the standard four-year academic term. (Contains 1 table.) [This information brief was produced by Planning and Institutional Research, Division of Colleges and Universities, Florida Department of Education.].