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USF receives high ranking in performance metrics

USF retained its status as one of the top universities in the state of Florida in the recently released Performance Based Funding scoring metrics from the Florida Board of Governors (BOG).

Performance-based metrics are used to determine how much in Performance-Based Funding each state university receives from the Florida Legislature.

The university is expecting this high ranking to secure millions of dollars in funding according to a press release from USF.

The legislature has $500 million in investments, $275 million of which was contributed by state universities and $225 million from state investment, according to the BOG. How this $500 million will be distributed has yet to be announced.

Coming in with a final score of 79 on the metrics -— behind FAU, UCF and UF — USF saw improvement across multiple categories in the metrics.

Of the 10 categories being judged, USF improved in eight and fell in two, according to records released by the BOG. USF saw the biggest improvement in the number of postdoctoral appointees with an 11.1 percent increase.

The university was ranked first in Florida in graduate degrees awarded in areas of strategic emphasis, which includes accounting, education, global initiatives, health and STEM. USF came in second in the state with baccalaureate degrees in the same fields. 

USF saw a decrease in the percent of Pell Grant undergraduates and second year retention rate with a GPA above 2.0. Neither of these decreases exceeded one percent. 

There were improvements across the state system, putting Florida in the lead with the highest graduation rate of the 10 largest U.S. states, according to the BOG.

Overall, STEM degrees grew 17 percent at the graduate level and 30 percent over the last five years at the baccalaureate level. Also, five out of the eight metrics common to all universities showed improvements from last year across the system.

These metrics included six-year graduation rates, median wages of bachelor’s graduates employed full-time in Florida and second year retention rates.

“Universities are offering a better product than they did just a few years ago with a better return on investment,” BOG Chair Tom Kuntz said in a press release from the BOG. “This year’s performance outcomes demonstrate once again that incentive-based funding works in higher education.”

A bill that making the performance-based metrics a law was passed during the current legislative session. It is currently awaiting approval from Gov. Rick Scott.