<p>What are the good and bad things about USF academics? I've done some research and I've seen that their graduation and retention rate is low. Would anyone know why it would be so low ?</p>
<p>USF retains about 89-90% of its freshmen after the first year, which isn’t too bad. USF is always working to improve its retention and graduation rates. USF is in a large urban setting and has many students, especially upperclassmen, who work while attending school which tends to require more time attending college before graduating. I’m graduating this spring, after four years at USF, with 200 semester credit hours and 2 bachelor’s degrees.</p>
<p>^^^ Hi lizard,
My d was accepted to USF and although I have no concerns about the academics, I’m a little worried about the low 4 year graduation rate. In your opinion, how easy is it to get into the classes that you need? Is the availability of classes a contributing factor to the graduation rate?</p>
<p>Course availability I don’t think is a severe problem for most students. In upper division though some courses might only be offered once/year so you have to plan carefully. What I think contributes to some students staying in school 5 or more years is more changing majors a couple of times, being indifferent about studies, not taking full course loads for semester, maybe having to work, etc. Completing a bachelor’s degree in 4 years is a very realistic and attainable goal. I always had first day/first slot priority registration as a student-athlete which helped me!</p>
<p>Oh okay thanks. So overall Lizard, you think USF academics are good ?</p>
<p>Yes. I graduate May 5th and I begin a job in August in the field USF prepared me for. It is still up in the air if I will continue with graduate studies next fall also.</p>
<p>they are trying to get the 4-year grad rates up-- problem is, most undergrads don’t take 15 credit hours per semester, but that’s actually a rough estimate of how many you do NEED to take in order to graduate on time (for most majors). </p>
<p>a lot of students do work, as Lizard said, which slows them down… and many go part-time as a result of working/financial issues… etc. my sister graduated in 4 years with a bachelors though :)</p>
<p>Oh Okay , Thank you everyone!</p>