Student Right-to-Know

What is a graduation rate and what is a transfer-out rate?

Federal regulations specify how to calculate the graduation and transfer rates. The rates come from a study of St. Cloud State University students who started at the university in the Fall 2019. The study includes all first-time students who enrolled full-time that fall and were seeking to earn a degree at the university. The graduation rate is the percentage of these students who graduated from the university within six years. The transfer-out rate is the percentage of these students who did not graduate from the university, but instead transferred to another college or university within six years.

These rates do not report on all students at St. Cloud State University. The 1,201 first-time, full-time students in the study were 11 percent of all undergraduate students enrolled in Fall 2019.

• The graduation rate for St. Cloud State was 44 percent.
• The transfer-out rate for St. Cloud State was 34 percent.
• The combination of the graduation rate and the transfer-out rate was 78 percent. The national average combined rate for similar universities was 73 percent.

Why don’t more St. Cloud State University students graduate or transfer in six years?

• Some students take jobs before they graduate;
• Students who switch from full-time to part-time enrollment or “stop out” for one or more semesters are more likely to take more than six years to graduate;
• Other students delay their education for personal, family or financial reasons.