UF students are earning diplomas at rates that rank near the top in the country.
UF is fifth nationally among public universities based on the class of 2013’s graduation rate, according to figures from the Chronicle of Higher Education with additional data from U.S. News World Report.
The University of Virginia holds the top spot with a 93.1 percent graduation rate, followed by the University of California at Berkeley (91 percent), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (90 percent), the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (90 percent) and UF (86.5 percent).
Although the most recent six-year graduation list has not been officially published for all of the top five universities, UF’s graduating class of 2014’s six-year graduation rate — the rate at which students graduated in six years or fewer — increased to 88 percent, said UF spokesman Steve Orlando.
“We have a universal tracking system for students to graduate on time,” Orlando said.
Orlando also cited the recession in the late 2000s as a time where UF saw its graduation numbers increase.
“Students were expected to graduate more quickly because of the hardships their families faced,” Orlando said.
Joseph Spillane, associate dean for student affairs, wrote in an email that multiple factors, including the competitiveness of freshman admissions and the investments UF makes in student support, factor into the school’s high graduation rate.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 5/19/15]
