by our College Data Analytics TeamMake an informed decision about your education by understanding how UCLA's retention and graduation rates impact you. First year retention rates let you know how many students come back for their sophomore year. Graduation rates tell you how long it takes to complete a degree at UCLA . Remember, every extra semester it takes to graduate will increase the cost of your degree.
With 97.0% of students staying on for a second year, University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best in the country when it comes to freshman retention.
Nationwide, the average first year to second year retention rate is 69.0% . When looking at just colleges and universities in California , the average is 74.0% .
At UCLA , there were 8,985 bachelors degree candidates in the class of 2016 . By 2018 , six years after beginning their degree, 91.8% of these students had graduated. After an additional two years, 92.7% of this class eventually completed their degree.
We consider the "on-time" graduation rate for a bachelor's degree to be four years, but colleges typically report their graduation rates after six or even eight years.
This implies that 7.3% did not graduate within eight years. Of these 656 students, 33 were still working towards their degree, 337 had transferred to a different institution, and UCLA lost contact with the remaining 285 whom we assume dropped out.
First-time, full-time students under the age of 25 are much more likely to graduate in four years (on-time). Some schools cater mostly to traditional students while others cater to “non-traditional” students who may be attending part time and thus are likely to take longer to graduate.
Comparing the graduation rates of specific cohorts shown below will be more revealing than the overall statistics shared above.
With a four year graduation rate of 75.0% , first-time students in the UCLA class of 2016 who attended classes full-time were among the most likely in the nation to graduate on time. After six years, the graduation rate was 91.1% and by 2020 ,92.2% of this class had completed their degree.
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for first-time undergraduates attending classes full-time is: 35.8% after four years, 46.4% after six years, and 47.8% after eight years.
Studies have shown that high-achieving students are more likely to complete their degree on time. Given the academic preparedness of the first-time / full-time students accepted to UCLA , we expected that after six years about 87.3% of them would have completed their undergraduate degree.
Of these 453 students, 26 were still working towards their degree, 246 had transferred to a different institution, and UCLA lost contact with the remaining 181 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 73.3% , first-time students in the UCLA class of 2016 who attended classes part-time were among the most likely in the nation to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 73.3% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for first-time undergraduates attending classes part-time is: 21.6% after six years and 23.7% after eight years.
Of these 8 students, 1 were still working towards their degree, 4 had transferred to a different institution, and UCLA lost contact with the remaining 3 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 93.8% , returning students in the UCLA class of 2016 who attended classes full-time were among the most likely in the nation to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 94.3% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for returning undergraduates attending classes full-time is: 53.8% after six years and 55.1% after eight years.
Of these 177 students, 4 were still working towards their degree, 78 had transferred to a different institution, and UCLA lost contact with the remaining 95 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 74.2% , returning students in the UCLA class of 2016 who attended classes part-time were among the most likely in the nation to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 74.2% .
Nationwide, the average graduation rate for returning undergraduates attending classes part-time is: 36.0% after six years and 37.8% after eight years.
Of these 17 students, 2 were still working towards their degree, 9 had transferred to a different institution, and UCLA lost contact with the remaining 6 whom we assume dropped out.
