EFSC a State Leader in Students Achieving Their Career Goals

Eastern Florida State College was recognized Thursday as among the best institutions of higher education in Florida, getting high grades in several key areas including students attaining jobs in their chosen careers after graduation.

The findings came at the Chancellor's Best Practices Summit at Florida State University in Tallahassee, where leaders from the 28-member Florida College System gathered to review their performance.

Eastern Florida was cited in the system's top tier for exceeding state goals in these key areas:

• Students attaining employment in the careers for which they studied.
• Students gaining employment or continuing their education after graduating.
• Students graduating on time.
• Students pursuing a Bachelor's Degree after earning an Associate's Degree.

Eastern Florida President Dr. Jim Richey said the report reflected the college's strong commitment to providing students with services and resources to help them succeed.

Among them are small class sizes that allow instructors to give students personalized attention, tutoring programs to keep them on track and classes on campus or online that allow students to tailor their courses to their needs.

He also said the results show the college's focus on creating new programs in fields with fast job growth is paying off.

The college has launched 40 new programs in business, health care and computer technologies during the past five years, and also started offering Bachelor's Degrees with about 1,600 students enrolled in the four-year tacks this year.

"I'm extremely proud of everyone at the college for the work that led to today's impressive findings," said Richey.

"Our faculty and staff are dedicated to doing everything possible to help students attain their goals, and we're going to continue building on that promise as we move forward.

"In doing so, we're playing a central role in our community and region by improving the lives of our students, helping them get good jobs in the workforce, and providing companies and industries with the skilled employees they need."

Thursday's report comes a day after Schools.com ranked Eastern Florida the top college in the Florida College System for what it called "its commitment to affordability and enrichment opportunities" for students.

To learn more about Eastern Florida and its programs, visit easternflorida.edu