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A commitment to improve graduation and retention rates are key to the University of West Florida’s success, and U.S. News and World Report has taken notice.
For the third consecutive year, the university has been listed among the top 10 public institutions in U.S. News and World Report’s 2025 Best College rankings.
UWF was ranked No. 10 in Top Public Schools and No. 9 in the Best Colleges for Veterans categories in the U.S News and World Report list released Sept. 20. The publication bases its rankings by comparing institutions across the nation on multiple academic measures.
“We have been digging in over the last few years to make sure that we’re providing support for our students from the minute they arrive – what I call seamless support,” UWF President Martha D. Saunders said. “Our admissions staff does not wash its hands of students when they are admitted. We have a lot of interaction.”
With a four-year graduation rate of 50% for first-time-in-college students (freshman-senior year), Saunders said the university focuses on helping students overcome financial and academic challenges.
“We’ve beefed up the financial support to our students, but sometimes it’s tutoring. We, sometimes, have students from largely rural areas where the high school didn’t teach Chem II. That’s not their fault, so we provide tutoring that levels the playing field and puts them at an advantage,” she said.
“High-impact practices also are gold because that gives students experiences outside of the classroom. Classroom work is one thing but an internship, study abroad or undergraduate research where they are standing in the labs with our faculty inventing things, that keeps the students engaged. And it helps them to do better in their classes.”
Bachelor of Science in nursing student Dubraska Vanessa Tiniacos Pena agrees on the benefits of learning outside of the classroom.
“I think it’s fantastic to have to the opportunity to have a new space where we can practice the skills that we’re going to be performing on the patients,” Pena said of the university’s new simulation lab at Ascension Sacred Heart hospital.
“The additional simulators give us the ability to practice on different types of patients, which is kind of reality. I think it’s good for our formation, which is the main goal – creating better nurses with better skills.”
Saunders said the university also tracks students’ academic progress with “very sophisticated predictor models.”
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“We know, for example, if a student makes a B- in a certain class, the likelihood of them successfully completing that program is not real good. So, we have what I call ‘early alert’ and our advisors are right on top of them,” Saunders explained.
“If the advisors see that, that is a trigger, that is an alert. They will bring the student in to talk about it. They ask the student if they are having a problem or suggest this may not be the right program for them. That has made a significant difference.”
Providing services to veterans is also crucial to UWF, a 2023-2024 Military Friendly School.
“About 20% of our students are military affiliates. They may be dependents, they may be vets, they may be active duty, so that is very much a part of our culture,” Saunders said of the Best Colleges for Veterans accolade.
“We have a dynamic Military and Veterans Resource Center. One of the things that we’re doing is amassing information on (housing, employment and education) services for veterans. It may not be a service that we provide but we know where to point them,” she said. “I’m hoping that we are serving as a good repository for the community. These veterans don’t have to be our students for us to help them.”
The center also helps with VA education benefits, active-duty tuition assistance, out-of-state fee waiver, academic advising coordination and tutoring.
UWF also was ranked No. 23 in the Regional Universities South, No. 37 in Top Performing on Social Mobility and No. 48 in Best Values Schools by U.S. News and World Report. This is the 40th year for the rankings.
For more information about the University of West Florida, visit uwf.edu. For more information about U.S. News and World Report rankings, visit usnews.com.
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