FAMU Improves on 8 Performance Based Funding Metrics

June 30, 2022
Andrew Skerritt
SOAH Student
FAMU Improves on 8 Performance Based Funding Metrics

Florida A&M University (FAMU) will receive $12.5 million in additional funding under the Performance Based Funding Model, the Florida Board of Governors announced Thursday.

FAMU scored 72 out of a possible 100 points and saw improvements in eight metrics. 

“I’m extremely proud that FAMU is one of the two State University System institutions that made improvements in the largest number of performance metrics over the last year. This is a tribute to the guidance of our Board of Trustees, the strategic leadership of Provost Maurice Edington and the hard work of our faculty, students, and staff.  This goes to show that by working together towards a common vision, we can continue to excel in student success outcomes,” FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., said.

President Robinson“The improvement in our students’ academic progress rate resulted from adopting ‘best practices’ from some our sister institutions and implementing innovative and aggressive measures of our own,” Robinson said.

Significantly, FAMU showed gains in the Academic Progress Rate, a measure of freshmen who matriculated to the sophomore year with a 2.0 GPA or greater, which is a key barometer for college success.

“The improvement in our students’ academic progress rate resulted from adopting ‘best practices’ from some our sister institutions and implementing innovative and aggressive measures of our own,” Robinson said. “Additionally, we have elevated the academic profile of incoming students, established the Office of Freshmen Studies, and increased student financial support from Performance Funding, federal funding and alumni and private sources. We are particularly grateful for the COVID-19 related funding we received over the past two years.” 

Edington said the University has a game plan to build on this year’s PBF results.

“Moving forward, we will maintain our focus on elevating our annual outcomes on the Performance Based Funding Model, as guided by the ambitious goals and priorities outlined in the new university strategic plan. Key areas of emphasis include retention and graduation rates, post-graduate employment outcomes, and degree production in STEM and health fields,” said Edington, who is also vice president for Academic Affairs. “We will make strategic investments in our academic programs, expand student recruitment, and aggressively promote our brand, with the overall goal of firmly establishing FAMU as a leading national public university.” 

FAMU PBF highlights:

  • FAMU continues to make strides in demonstrating that a college degree improves one’s employment prospects and earnings. The percent of bachelor graduates employed or enrolled one year after graduation and bachelor graduate earnings increased when compared to last year. FAMU was one of four universities that increased on this metric. (Metrics 1 & 2)
  • FAMU continues to offer a great value for the money. The average cost to the student decreased for the second year. (Metric 3)
  • An early indicator of college success is the freshmen retention rate. The majority of first-time in college students return for their second year. This rate continues to increase yearly. FAMU was one of two institutions that showed an increase over previous year’s results. (Metric 5)
  • FAMU continues to produce degrees to meet the economic and workforce needs of Florida. The number of bachelor and graduate degrees in programs of strategic emphasis increased when compared to the prior year. (Metrics 6 and 8)
  • The number of degrees awarded to Florida College System Associate of Arts transfer students continues to rise. (Metric 9a & 10)
  • We continue to alter the economic trajectory of our students for generations to come as demonstrated by our commitment of access for low-income students. More than one-half of our students, 59.3 percent, are Pell Grant recipients. FAMU continues to lead the State University System on this metric. (Metric 7)

During the Board of Governors meeting, Governor Alan Levine expressed his excitement about FAMU’s steady progress in increasing performance on the Academic Progress Rate metric over the past several years. 

“FAMU’s improvement is the fastest in the entire system,” Levine said during the meeting in Orlando. “I think it’s a perfect scenario where governance and leadership have made the difference. I agree with Dr. Robinson; the winners were the students. It is stunning and compelling what FAMU has done.”