by our College Data Analytics TeamMake an informed decision about your education by understanding how USC'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 USC . 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 Southern California 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 USC , there were 5,182 bachelors degree candidates in the class of 2016 . By 2018 , six years after beginning their degree, 91.5% of these students had graduated. After an additional two years, 92.5% 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 7.5% did not graduate within eight years. Of these 391 students, 13 were still working towards their degree, 174 had transferred to a different institution, and USC lost contact with the remaining 203 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 77.0% , first-time students in the USC 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 91.6% and by 2020 ,92.8% 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 USC , we expected that after six years about 90.1% of them would have completed their undergraduate degree.
Of these 248 students, 9 were still working towards their degree, 124 had transferred to a different institution, and USC lost contact with the remaining 115 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 66.7% , first-time students in the USC 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 66.7% .
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 1 students, 0 were still working towards their degree, 0 had transferred to a different institution, and USC lost contact with the remaining 1 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 91.8% , returning students in the USC 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 92.4% .
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 133 students, 4 were still working towards their degree, 47 had transferred to a different institution, and USC lost contact with the remaining 82 whom we assume dropped out.
With a six year graduation rate of 42.9% , returning students in the USC 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 8 students, 0 were still working towards their degree, 3 had transferred to a different institution, and USC lost contact with the remaining 5 whom we assume dropped out.
