Underreported graduation rates could be an effect of student transfers.
According to a new study from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, about 13 percent of students transfer from one college to another during their college education. As a result, the colleges they transferred from aren’t credited for their graduations, which can cause misleading graduation rates.
But UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said this report does not have much impact on UF. She said different graduation rates are reported for incoming first-time college students and for transfer students.
“The impact of transfer students on our graduation rate is minimal, judging from our data on success rates. Our success rates are not that different from our regular rates,” Sikes said.
Graduation rates for first-time-in-college students are defined as the number of students who entered UF as freshmen and graduated as Gators. The numbers don’t include students who transferred out of UF.
However, transfer students are a part of the overall success rate, which is the number of students who enroll at UF at any point in their education and graduate from the university.
Students like Daniel Roberts, a 21-year-old UF business management junior and transfer student, count in UF’s success rate if they graduate. He said he waited to apply to UF until he had the grades he wanted. Now, he said, he appreciates the opportunities the transfer allowed.
“I know that UF degrees hold a lot of value,” Roberts said.
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 4/2/2014 under the headline "Study: Transfers may affect calculated graduation rates"]
