Florida Polytechnic University
Public College in Lakeland, FL. Six-year graduation rate 55%.
The six-year graduation rate is 55%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates leave owing a median of $14,250 — modest by four-year standards.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 58% of applicants are offered a place. The applicant pool runs to 4,110, typical for a school of this reach. About 20% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below cover the middle 50% of the enrolled students who submitted a score — not the whole class, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 590–670 | 341 (71%) |
| SAT Math | 580–670 | |
| ACT Composite | 24–30 | 134 (28%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Florida Polytechnic University →Academics
55% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. Retention of 75% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. The part-time picture is harder: 40% return, against 75% full-time. A 17:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,556 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $13,016 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $8,819 at $0–30k, $16,423 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 94% of students receive it, averaging $8,479. About 25% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 391 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $8,819 |
| $30–48k | $8,769 |
| $48–75k | $11,316 |
| $75–110k | $15,037 |
| $110k+ | $16,423 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 392 of these 1,556 students, totalling $2,184,040 — an average of $5,572 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Polk County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)