The USF System is first in Florida in the percent of bachelor’s and graduate degrees awarded in programs of strategic emphasis and the percent of graduates employed. The Board of Governors also reconfirms USF as Emerging Preeminent.

TAMPA, Fla. (June 22, 2017) – The University of South Florida System has once again achieved academic excellence, placing second among all state universities in the 2017-2018 Board of Governors (BOG) performance-based funding scores announced Thursday.  The performance-based model includes 10 metrics that measure key aspects of the institution’s performance in student success and post-graduation productivity.

“Student success continues to be the number one priority for the USF System, a focus that has led to sustained excellence in performance-based funding,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft. “We remain incredibly grateful for the investments we have been able to make as a result of performance-based funding over the past several years and will continue to stay laser-focused on our commitment to meeting the needs of our students while maintaining our unmatched upward trajectory.”

Students at the 2017 USF Health Commencement ceremony. The USF System this year reported an increase in undergraduate and graduate degrees awarded in programs of strategic emphasis, including health. 

USF System highlights this year include:

• Increase in undergraduate (59 percent) and graduate (74.6 percent) degrees awarded in programs of strategic emphasis, including STEM, health, accounting and education.
• Nearly 10 percent increase of degrees awarded without excess hours (75.6 percent).
• State leader in the percent of baccalaureate graduates employed full-time or continuing their education within one year of graduation (69.6 percent).

“Our continued efforts in student success are only matched by our commitment to graduating career-ready students who possess the skills, experiences, and knowledge to succeed in an ever-changing global work environment,” said Ralph Wilcox, USF Provost and Executive Vice President.

Based on their excellence or improvement on the BOG’s metrics, universities are eligible for a share of $520 million allocated by the Governor and Legislature during the 2017 legislative session.  Each university contributed a portion of its institutional budget, for a total of $275 million, and the state set aside an additional $245 million, to be allocated based on performance.

By placing second, the USF System will have its full portion of institutional funding restored ($39 million) and will receive an additional $45 million in state investment, for a total of $84 million in performance-based funds.

This week the BOG also approved USF’s annual update to its Emerging Preeminence plan. The approval comes with $8.7 million in additional funding for targeted investments to help USF meet the benchmarks required to achieve full Preeminence.