Student Success

Peer Institution Graduation Rates & Retention Rates

The figures for UAF and its peer institutions were pulled from the 2020-21 Common Data Set (CDS), a standardized report that is completed annually by higher education institutions nationwide for easy comparison.

Graduation rates are for the Fall 2014 cohort, meaning first-time full-time bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree seeking undergraduate students admitted in fall 2014 who have graduated in the six years since. Retention rates refer to first-time full-time bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree seeking undergraduate students from the fall 2019 semester, who were still enrolled at the institution in fall 2020.

UAF 4 Year Graduation Rates

UAF has a high number of students that attend part-time and/or are non-traditional students. For this reason, many students do not graduate within four years, and a six-year graduation rate is a more informative number.

UAF 6 Year Graduation Rates

When colleges report their graduation rate, it is often the six-year rate, which is the federal reporting requirement. UAF has markedly improved its overall six-year graduation rate over the past decade, from about 30% in 2011 to over 40% today. We look at these metrics broken out by age, gender, ethnicity, and Pell-recipient status (which may be an indication of socioeconomic status) to search for gaps in equity that need to be addressed through policy or initiatives.