--- title: The 14 Most Improved Public Colleges in the U.S. description: These colleges have all improved their graduation rates substantially over the past decade. authors: - name: Kim Clark url: https://money.com/author/kim-clark/ at_money_since: 2013 articles: 62 covers: - Education - Housing - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance social: - https://x.com/Money_College former_staff: true published: '2015-12-17T14:38:07.000Z' modified: '2024-04-02T05:13:32.000Z' section: Education tags: - achievement gap - african american - Black - College - Education Trust - graduation rate - latino - Minorities - white word_count: 299 canonical: https://money.com/most-improving-public-colleges/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![151217_COLL_MostImproved](https://img.money.com/2015/12/151217_coll_mostimproved.jpg) *The University of Georgia tops the list of most improved colleges in terms of graduation rates.* Here's some encouraging college news: Most colleges are getting better at educating and supporting students through to graduation. A new study of college graduation rates by the [Education Trust](https://edtrust.org), a Washington, D.C., think tank, has found that most colleges have raised their graduation rates during the last decade. And, overall, beleaguered public colleges have improved the most. Today, 58% of freshmen at public colleges earn bachelor's degrees within six years. While that might not sound impressive, it’s almost 5 percentage points higher than the rate from a decade ago. Importantly, colleges are also generally a doing a better job of helping minority students graduate, the report found. Over the last decade, the graduation rates for Latino students has risen more than 7%, and the rate for African-American students has risen more than 4%. [![Best college education image](https://content.money.com/wp-content/themes/money2018/img/college-site-banner-02.png)](https://best-colleges.time.com/money/search-colleges/?xid=cm-mcpFindTheCollegeWidget) A Money analysis of the data shows that 14 public colleges stand out as the most rapidly improving high-value colleges in the nation. These colleges all currently have above-average graduation rates, have raised their graduation rates for all students by at least 10% since 2003, and have reduced the achievement gap disparities among races over that time. [Money ranks colleges](https://money.com/best-colleges/) on a combination of educational quality, affordability, and the financial success of graduates. | college | Money rank | Graduation rate\* | | --- | --- | --- | | [University of Georgia](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 68 | 83% | | [San Diego State University](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 116 | 66% | | [California State University-Long Beach](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 121 | 60% | | [Ohio State University-Main Campus](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 134 | 83% | | [University at Buffalo](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 147 | 72% | | [University of Central Florida](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 367 | 67% | | [Temple University](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 399 | 66% | | [Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 437 | 63% | | [Grand Valley State University](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 473 | 70% | | [Georgia State University](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 483 | 53% | | [Ferris State University](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 509 | 43% | | [SUNY Oneonta](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 525 | 70% | | [University of Minnesota-Morris](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 566 | 63% | | [Virginia Commonwealth University](https://money.com/best-colleges/) | 659 | 57% | \*As of 2013, the last year for which federal data is currently available. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/most-improving-public-colleges/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Colleges and Universities", "item": "https://money.com/colleges-and-universities/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The 14 Most Improved Public Colleges in the U.S." } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/most-improving-public-colleges/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/most-improving-public-colleges/", "name": "The 14 Most Improved Public Colleges in the U.S.", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-12-17T14:38:07.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/most-improving-public-colleges/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/most-improving-public-colleges/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-02T05:13:32.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The 14 Most Improved Public Colleges in the U.S.", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/12/151217_coll_mostimproved.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1400, "caption": "151217_COLL_MostImproved" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kim Clark", "url": "https://money.com/author/kim-clark/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kim-clark/#author", "image": "https://money.com/content.money.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/14-05-21_bio_author_clark.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C190px%2C190px&resize=640%2C640&quality=85&strip&ssl=1", "email": "Kim_Clark@Moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/Money_College" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-12-17T14:38:07.000Z", "description": "These colleges have all improved their graduation rates substantially over the past decade.", "abstract": "These colleges have all improved their graduation rates substantially over the past decade.", "@id": "https://money.com/most-improving-public-colleges/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-02T05:13:32.000Z", "wordCount": 299, "keywords": [ "achievement gap", "african american", "Black", "College", "Education Trust", "graduation rate", "latino", "Minorities", "white" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Higher education", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_education" ] } ] } ] } ```