Student graduation rates at UC campuses hit a 20-year high according to a report presented last week at the May 15 UC Board of Regents meeting. The report notes that three out of every five UC students will now earn a diploma within four years — a 23 percent increase since 1997.
UC Provost Aimee Dorr outlined the trends in the report, showing a significant improvement in overall graduation rates in recent years and highlighting the quicker graduation rates of freshman and transfer students compared to the past.
“Graduation rates for undergraduates have risen dramatically over the past 20 years, and it is taking less time than ever for them to complete their degrees,” Dorr said in a UC Newsroom release.
According to the report, graduation rates have improved across all UC undergraduate campuses, with more than 80 percent of UC students who enter as freshmen graduating within six years.
The length students take to complete their degree has decreased significantly, with the amount of freshman completing their degree in four years almost doubling from 37 percent in 1997 to 60 percent this year. Most students who don’t earn their degree within four years typically complete their studies within an extra academic term.
Dorr says the reason the UC system has been able to see such success in a period of budget cuts comes from the commitment and increased help of its faculty. Classes taught by faculty have increased during the last 20 years.
At the meeting, outgoing UC President Mark Yudof also presented a special overview entailing significant changes from the past six years and an assessment of the UC system’s current performance.
Yudof hopes his assessment will serve as a helpful overview of important trends and policy choices for the future president after leaving office this August.
His “white paper” report highlights significant trends and policies, including the UC system’s success in serving first-generation and low-income California students. The report also mentions that 40 percent of UC students are eligible for Pell Grants, aiding students from families with an annual income of $50,000 or less.
“More and more, the value of an education is seen as a private good, bestowed on those individuals who receive it, as opposed to a public good that nourishes society at large,” Yudof wrote in his paper.
The report includes details regarding the drop in state financial support since 2007–2008. From the past six years the UC system’s state appropriation has decreased by 27 percent, and mandatory expenditures have increased by 15 percent.
“It’s candid, it’s complete, and in many ways, it’s a road map for our future,” Regent Russell Gould said in a UC newsroom release.
