The FAMU freshman class of 2012 set a (recent) record for the university’s six-year graduation rate at 50 percent, up from 39 percent for the freshman class of 2008 that graduated in six-years. While the numbers may sound dismal, FAMU’s six-year graduation rate for the 2012 freshman class that finished in 2018, exceeds the national average of 45.9 percent for Black students who enrolled in four-year public institutions.
FAMU is planning to grow its six-year graduation rate by 20 points to 60 percent by the year 2022. If it can reach that milestone, the university would be in the top 25 percent of institutions nationally.
Over the same period, FAMU’s four-year graduation rate improved from 19.2 percent for the freshman class of 2012 to 22.5 percent for the freshman class of 2014. This was up from 12.7 percent for the freshman class of 2010.
The latest data for the class of 2019 is not yet available.
In recent years, public universities in Florida have been forced to improve their six-year graduation rates in order to obtain a share of the state’s performance based funding. That focus has now shifted to four-year graduation rates.