<p>Does anyone have any insight into the low four year graduation rate (40%)
and freshman retention rate (75%) at FIT?</p>
<p>[College</a> Stats | College Completion](<a href=“Student Outcomes”>Student Outcomes)</p>
<p>The Chronicles of Education captures 4 and 6 year graduation rates. As a generalization the higher the rate of graduation and the higher the freshman retention the higher ranked a college/univervity. Really good schools graduate their students in four years and keep those who start as freshman.</p>
<p>The number one reason students do not graduate on time is change of majors, followed by not being able to get the classes they need to graduate (big issue at large Universerities) and the third reason is lack of funding. It has additionally been argued that far too many students that are not really college ready now go to college and thus fail to be able to graduate at all.</p>
<p>Those numbers are a little old. The most current graduation rate, according to the Dept. of Education, is 56% and the freshmen retention is 80%. This is normal considering the student profile at FIT. When you look at GPA’s and ACT/SAT scores, the students at FIT are comparable to USF’s and UCF’s. The graduation at USF is 52% and UCF it’s 63%. The retention rates are all in the 80% range.</p>
<p>The graduation and retention rate will go up as FIT improves. FIT is ranked highly now in US New, which attract more students. FIT is only one of two private schools ranked in Florida. FIT is also improving the campus rapidly by building new classrooms and dorms, which again will attract people. They are also expanding the athletic programs to improve the experience on campus.</p>