State colleges measure up for extra funds
Central Florida state colleges will receive millions in extra funding this year based on measures like retention and completion rates, with Valencia College receiving $5.4 million, more than any other in the state.
The state’s $30 million performance funding pot is divvied between the state’s 28 state colleges based on retention rates, percentage of first-time students who enroll for two consecutive fall terms; the percentage of students who graduate within a certain period of time; the percentage of former students who are employed or continuing their education a year after graduation; and the average wage of graduates one year after they leave school.
The formula, which is based on data that is at least a
year old, also accounts for the size of the college. Seminole State College received more points than any Central Florida school. However, the college received $2.9 million, a little more than half of what Valencia received, because it’s smaller. Both schools scored in the state’s top tier, along with Chipola College in Marianna, Santa Fe College in Gainesville and South Florida State College in Avon Park.
Valencia hasn’t yet decided how it will spend its share, Jay Galbraith, the college’s vice president for public affairs and marketing, wrote in an email.
“Because the performance funding is non-recurring money and the amount fluctuates from year to year, it makes it difficult for the college to use these funds for direct student impact,” he said. “Valencia is a strong supporter of expanding performance funding as recurring funds to the base funding of high-performing colleges.”
Other Central Florida colleges will get a smaller share of the pie. LakeSumter State College is in line for $359,364, while Daytona State College is to receive $1.2 million. Both schools landed in the second tier, along with 16 other schools across the state. Five schools received no additional funding.
Colleges that perform poorly can lose money through the state’s performance funding program. However, that won’t happen to any schools this year.
Valencia and Seminole State, for example, posted among the best retention rates in the state. At Valencia, nearly 70 percent of first-time students in fall 2015 returned the following year, compared with 65 percent across the state. At Seminole State, that percentage was 69 percent.
Seminole State President Ann McGee credited her school’s success to programs like Destination Graduation, a partnership with United Way that connects students who are veterans or low-income to emergency grants and other resources.