The University of California, Riverside continues to make progress in improving graduation rates, one metric of student success. Based on data released this week by the Office of Institutional Research, the six-year graduation rate for first-time full-time freshmen has reached an all-time high of 75 percent. The same is true of the four-year graduation rate, reaching 56 percent.
These results continue historic improvements in student success at UCR. Among the last five respective entering freshmen cohorts, four-year graduation rates have risen by 12 percentage points and six-year rates by 9 percentage points. These gains are evidence of UCR’s commitment to supporting students through their degree programs.
UCR’s transfer students also saw increases in four-year graduation rates, reaching 87 percent while two-year graduation rates experienced a slight decline (57 percent compared to 61 percent last year).
In addition to improving graduation rates as a campus, UCR continued its national leadership in maintaining parity in achievement across ethnic and economic categories. The six-year graduation rates at UCR for African American, Asian American, Chicano/Latino, and white students all exceeded 70 percent. Likewise, the six-year graduation rate for Pell Grant recipients at UCR reached 74 percent, on par with the rest of campus. The six-year graduation rate for first generation students also exceeded 70 percent. In 2016, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities honored UCR with the prestigious “Project Degree Completion Award” for innovation in improving student success.
According to the most recent graduation rate data available by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), only 40 percent of first-time full-time African American students and just over half of Hispanic students who enroll in public four-year institutions as freshmen graduate in six years. Nationally, over 60 percent of white students and 70 percent of Asian students graduate in six years. There are clear national gaps in graduation rates between underrepresented minority (URM) students and non-URMs. In addition, national statistics on Pell graduates show that only 49 percent of students receiving Pell grants graduate in six years. UCR has and continues to support the success of URM and Pell grant recipients.
“Above all, our students deserve the most credit for this achievement,” said Cynthia Larive, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor at UCR. “But in addition to the efforts of our students, our success in improving student outcomes relies on the dedicated work of our entire campus. The support and mentoring provided by our faculty and staff are critical in helping students succeed. This is something we can all be proud of.”