by our College Data Analytics TeamMake an informed decision about your education by understanding how Pitt'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 Pitt . Remember, every extra semester it takes to graduate will increase the cost of your degree.
With 93.0% of students staying on for a second year, University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus 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 Pennsylvania , the average is 75.0% .
At Pitt , there were 4,979 bachelors degree candidates in the class of 2016 . By 2018 , six years after beginning their degree, 80.3% of these students had graduated. After an additional two years, 81.1% 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 18.9% did not graduate within eight years. Of these 940 students, 17 were still working towards their degree, 685 had transferred to a different institution, and Pitt lost contact with the remaining 237 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 65.0% , first-time students in the Pitt 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 82.4% and by 2020 ,83.2% 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 Pitt , we expected that after six years about 84.3% of them would have completed their undergraduate degree.
Of these 632 students, 14 were still working towards their degree, 500 had transferred to a different institution, and Pitt lost contact with the remaining 118 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 58.3% , first-time students in the Pitt 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 58.3% .
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 5 students, 0 were still working towards their degree, 3 had transferred to a different institution, and Pitt lost contact with the remaining 2 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 78.9% , returning students in the Pitt 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 79.7% .
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 210 students, 3 were still working towards their degree, 135 had transferred to a different institution, and Pitt lost contact with the remaining 72 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 40.4% , returning students in the Pitt class of 2016 who attended classes part-time were more likely than average to graduate in a reasonable time. After eight years, the graduation rate was 42.9% .
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 92 students, 0 were still working towards their degree, 47 had transferred to a different institution, and Pitt lost contact with the remaining 45 whom we assume dropped out.
