Teaching: A World View
Higher Ed graduation rates in Florida: Students as customers
The state’s universities treat students more like customers to get them coming back and to have them finish in four.
Once upon a time, Florida’s public universities weren’t overly concerned if students took longer than four years to graduate with a bachelor’s degree — national rankings typically use only the six-year graduation rate in assessing schools’ effectiveness.
The schools also didn’t worry too much about dropouts — they maintained advisers to counsel students, but the counselors weren’t proactive; the students had to seek them out. As a result, many students didn’t do well academically in their freshman years — typically the toughest — and thousands didn’t return for their second years.
But for the past five years, under Marshall Criser III, chancellor of the State University System of Florida, public universities have focused on improving both their four-year graduation rates and their retention rates.
This story also features expert opinions, business briefs and people in the news: Marshall Criser III; Sally McRorie; Joseph Glover; Elizabeth Bejar; Tom Miller; Maribeth Ehasz; Joseph Murray
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