As Provost Ralph C. Wilcox likes to tell it, the University of South Florida’s effort to raise graduation rates on its main campus started years before advocacy organizations, television personalities, or the Obama administration made the issue a popular talking point. No one “Eureka!” policy rocketed thousands of new students to commencement; rather, dozens of efforts influenced the graduation rate in their own small ways.
From 2011 to 2015, the large university increased its six-year graduation rate for first-time college students by nearly 17 percentage points, the largest increase for a public institution in the country. In 2011, just over half of the nearly 4,000 undergraduates who entered as first-time freshmen six years earlier had earned their degrees. By 2015, the graduation rate had risen to 68.4 percent.
In this collection of 31 tables, you will find data on enrollment, student aid, online learning, international education, graduation rates, and employment outcomes.
The improvement, which resulted from a campuswide effort involving the president on down, was possible only because so many constituencies were enthusiastic over a long period of time, says Mr. Wilcox, who is also executive vice president of the South Florida system and of its main campus, in Tampa.
At South Florida, as at other institutions around the country that raised their graduation rates significantly over four years (see table), greater attention to the retention of first-time undergraduates helped spur the change, college officials say. In 2004, USF failed to retain nearly 20 percent of that year’s freshman class, a circumstance that Mr. Wilcox deemed “inexcusable.”
“That was irresponsible. It didn’t reflect well on our institution. It didn’t serve our students well.” Mr. Wilcox says. By 2015, the retention rate had risen to 88 percent.
The university fought the battle on all fronts. Students who do not meet academic-aptitude requirements for the main campus are now referred to associate-degree-granting public colleges. If their grades improve enough by the end of sophomore year, those students can apply and be admitted to South Florida, Mr. Wilcox says.
Class schedules and office hours were designed to promote one-on-one interactions between students and faculty members. Officials found the ability for students to follow up with professors after class significantly improved student success. And more money was put into counseling services to serve growing mental-health needs on campus as officials recognized that illnesses like anxiety and depression were preventing some students from keeping pace with their peers.
Two nonprofit colleges that succeeded in raising their graduation rates by 20 or more percentage points over a four-year period used tactics similar to South Florida’s, along with other ideas that fit with their much smaller size and individual missions. Indeed, at some point in the past decade, South Florida, Newman University, and College of Ozarks have been able to raise their retention rates by around 10 percentage points from 2004 figures. The methods used to raise such rates are as varied as the institutions themselves.
At Newman, a Roman Catholic institution in Wichita, Kan., change started after administrators realized how few students they were retaining and graduating. In 2011, just over one in four of the 181 first-time undergraduates who enrolled six years earlier had earned degrees there. With that feedback in mind, Newman officials set out to drastically improve student success and performance, says Rosemary Niedens, associate vice president for academic affairs.
Rather than zero in on one student demographic, the university specified any and all groups for improvement. It hired a consultant to provide advice on retention strategies. Learning communities were established to help build community and relationships among students, most of whom commute to the campus. A robust intervention plan was put into action early if a student exhibited warning signs observed in previous dropouts or transfers. The university added more tutors. And normally unsung employees got the spotlight for their efforts to build a welcoming community with students, because “it takes everybody,” Ms. Niedens says.
Within four years, the university had raised its graduation rate from 28.2 percent to 50 percent, an increase of nearly 22 percentage points by 2015.
Taking a more personal approach also worked well for College of the Ozarks, a religious institution that was successful in rapidly improving its graduation rate, says Eric W. Bolger, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. The Missouri institution waives tuition payments for all full-time students in exchange for work and volunteer service, but easing financial pressure was not enough to keep students progressing steadily toward graduation. In 2011 just over half of the first-time, full-time freshmen who entered six years earlier had earned degrees. Mr. Bolger says community members understood that more had to be done to improve student success.
The college formed a working group of staff and faculty members to coordinate efforts. It decided to focus on retention. For instance, in the past an official would have explained student-success strategies (how to study, tutoring resources, what plagiarism is) in rapid succession over the course of two days at freshman orientation. Now faculty members provide such guidance in the classroom. The college has also beefed up its counseling resources. And, in many cases, the university has helped students pay for books, medical care, even dental care.
“We’ve really put more of an emphasis on that relational, one-on-one dynamic,” Mr. Bolger says. “You know, making sure that faculty tell my office if the student seems like they are not functioning well, not coming to class, not doing their work. Then they need to come to my office, and we need to deal with it immediately.”
Officials at all three colleges say they plan to keep pushing for higher graduation and retention figures.
South Florida officials hope to reach and surpass a 70-percent six-year graduation rate soon, and to achieve at least a 90-percent retention rate as well. Running parallel to that, Mr. Wilcox says, the university will continue its effort to raise the four-year graduation rate for first-time undergraduates as well, which in 2015 stood at 42.7 percent.
The push is part of South Florida’s broader march to become a “pre-eminent” national research university, with the goal of induction into the elite Association of American Universities.
At College of the Ozarks, sights are set to vigorously direct resources and energy to second-year undergraduates. Mr. Bolger, the dean, envisions a community-based approach, with the creation of learning groups within residence halls.
“That second year has been identified as a real struggle for students, where the excitement of being a new student has kind of disappeared but they’re not yet into their major enough to really have that community,” he says.
The college hopes that such strategies will foster a sense of belonging and excitement, says Mr. Bolger, and help students feel like “not just a number among many, but part of something smaller, where they can actually get to know people.”
Dan Bauman is a reporter who investigates and writes about all things data in higher education. Tweet him at @danbauman77 or email him at dan.bauman@chronicle.com.
