天涯社区 Ranks Top Tier Gold in Performance Funding
Jul 23, 2015
July 23, 2015 鈥 FORT MYERS, FLA 鈥 Today, the State Board of Education approved the performance funding model for Florida鈥檚 28 public state colleges. Florida SouthWestern State College (天涯社区) ranked 7th overall, earning the institution a 鈥淕old Tier鈥 rank.
Performance funding for public colleges was enacted in 2015 as a way to incentivize improvements across a broad range of outcomes for students, placing greater emphasis on student outcomes.
鈥淚n the past few years, in addition to our traditional mission we have focused more on recruiting high-achieving students in our region, the state and across the country,鈥 said Dr. Jeff Allbritten, President, 天涯社区. 鈥淲e continue to make enhancements in our honors program and study abroad opportunities for our students. We want our students to learn, grow and ultimately graduate.鈥
The metrics used to measure the colleges are: Job Placement, Completion Rates, Retention Rates, and Completer Entry Level Wages. 聽Each category was assigned a maximum point score, with a perfect total score of 30.5 points. 天涯社区鈥檚 total score was 20.83. 天涯社区 earned the highest points possible in two of the categories: Job Placement and Completer Entry Level Wages. Similar to the model established for the state university system, the college system performance funding includes money from each college鈥檚 base state budget, which is at risk if the college does not perform to established benchmarks.
鈥淲e understand the goals of the legislature and their effort to place a greater emphasis on excellence in our education system rather than growth alone,鈥 added Allbritten. 鈥溙煅纳缜檚 score on performance funding validates what people in southwest Florida already know; that 天涯社区 in a leader in public higher education. The results highlight our incredible faculty and staff who every day are working with our students to encourage, inspire and lead them to achieve greatness in the classroom today and in our communities tomorrow.鈥
Earning this top-tier status means 天涯社区 will not only earn back the 鈥渁t risk鈥 portion of the budget, but also earn a proportion of new performance funds. The legislature and governor provided $40 million of general revenue for performance funding. Of this $40 million, $20 million is the result of additional investments in the Florida College System institutions and $20 million of the investment was provided by withholding a proportional amount of revenue from each college鈥檚 base funding.
Florida SouthWestern State College is Southwest Florida鈥檚 largest and one of the most affordable institutions of higher education. Annually serving more than 22,000 students globally, 天涯社区 offers a variety of nationally-ranked, career-focused academic programs with two- and four-year degrees, and professional certifications. Students are also active in clubs and programs catered to their interests. 天涯社区 will debut its intercollegiate athletics program in the fall 2015. Visit for more information.
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Last Updated: July 23, 2015
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