Florida higher-education officials say the state university system’s four-year graduation rate is on pace to increase to 65 percent by 2025, as an upward trend in producing graduates continues.

The number of first-time-in-college students who graduated from the same institution where they started has gradually increased over the past five years, according to a presentation given to the university system’s Board of Governors on Tuesday.

In 2021, 59 percent of those students graduated within four years, the data showed. The four-year graduation rate for new students who don’t transfer has increased by 11 percent since 2017, when 48 percent of those students completed their coursework within four years.

Board member Alan Levine touted the graduation rate’s uptick during the board’s meeting in Pensacola on Tuesday. “If we’re talking to the Legislature, this is what you look at when you talk about an ROI (return on investment) because the efficiency of throughput creates much more access for students,” Levine said.

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