The University of Pittsburgh is pleased to provide the following information regarding our institution’s graduation rates, in compliance with the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.
The Student Right-to-Know Act (SRTK), passed by Congress in 1990, requires institutions eligible for Title IV funding to calculate completion or graduation rates of certificate- or degree-seeking, full-time students entering that institution, and to disclose these rates to current and prospective students. To read more about the Student Right-to-Know Act, please visit the National Center for Education Statistics website.
This SRTK rate complies with Federal guidelines, which specifies graduation from the campus initially enrolled. Because each University of Pittsburgh campus is treated as a separate institution, students who begin as a first-year student at one campus and receive a degree from another campus are not counted as graduates. Because of this, SRTK graduation rates for the Pitt-Johnstown campus may appear artificially low in comparison with system wide graduation reports.
Please keep the following in mind when reviewing this information:
- Federal regulations specify how to calculate the SRTK graduation and transfer-out rates. These rates come from a study of University of Pittsburgh students who started as full-time, first-time, degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates. The graduation rate is the percentage of these students who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh campus in which they initially enrolled within 150% of the length of their program. The transfer-out rate is the percentage of these students who did not graduate from their initial campus of enrollment, but instead transferred to another college or university (including another University of Pittsburgh campus) within 150% of the length of their program.
- All graduation rates are based on 150% of the normal completion time of the longest undergraduate program at that campus. For example, for baccalaureate-seeking first-year students, this 150% measure describes students graduating from a four-year program within six years.
- Students who left school to serve in the armed forces, to take part in official church missions, to help with a foreign aid service of the federal government, or who died or became totally and permanently disabled are removed from the starting cohort of first-year student.
- Students who started at a University of Pittsburgh campus and graduated from another university are not considered as graduated.
- Disaggregated data category counts are based on the date of when the student initially enrolled at the University.
- Graduation rates are for a select group of full-time degree/certificate-seeking first-year students. It does not represent all students, including students who start in the spring, transfer students, part-time students, graduate students, or non-degree seeking students.
- Note that the terminology used is mandated by federal reporting agencies and does not always reflect the University’s preferred terms or the terms with which members of our community identify. Some of the federal terms run counter to the University’s commitment to creating an inclusive campus community that supports all identities, backgrounds, and experiences, so that all members can thrive.