Student Success, Retention and Equity Task Force - October 2024 Update

Dear Faculty, Librarians, and Staff,

As reported in the Census update, we met and exceeded our goal of retaining at least 81% of our first-time, first-year students who started in fall 2023 to their second fall in 2024 and saw a retention rate of 83.7%. We also saw a slight 1% increase of first-time, first-year students who returned for their third fall, signaling a positive trend toward retaining students toward graduation at USF. 

As our retention rates begin to stabilize from the impact of the pandemic, we continue to move in a positive direction due to the collaborative and intentional efforts among many of you in supporting our students. 

While we saw some good news with the return of our FTFY year Fall 2023 cohort, the return rate of new (Hilltop) transfer students has been on a steady decline with a recent 3% drop in retention from 78.6 percent (fall 2022 entering cohort) to 76 percent (fall 2023 entering cohort). 

The Transfer Student Success Initiative (TSSI) Working Group, a subgroup of the task force and staff members whose roles support transfer students, established data-informed recommendations to carry forth this year to improve the success of our transfers. Additionally, USF will be celebrating National Transfer Student Week on October 21-25, alongside other higher education institutions, to uplift our 1,136 transfer students and the many professionals who support them in their educational journey. Please be on the lookout for opportunities to participate in the weeklong events. 

Additionally, a few highlights from the Student Success, Retention, and Equity (SSRE) Task Force include:

• The PACT Program, a retention initiative under the Center for Academic and Student Achievement, offers new undergraduates to USF with an opportunity to engage in ongoing peer-to-peer mentoring with upper-level-students in their respective academic fields. This academic year, a total of 55 first-time first-year and new transfer students are participating in the program, supported by 14 peer mentors and 1 graduate assistant in the School of Education. 
• Posting of degree maps for each undergraduate major for all current and prospective students that break down semester-by-semester requirements across four years to assist them in planning their time-to-degree. Degree Maps are now available by majors.
• Updating of Leave of Absence and Petition to Withdraw forms to encourage student engagement before they leave and to further gather better data around why students do not persist at USF.
• Ongoing review and assessment of existing advising and registration support for incoming first-year and transfer students with the goal of continuous improvement of process to support student needs. 

Again, many thanks to the USF community for their unwavering support of our students. We are grateful to be doing this work with all of you. Please send any questions and additional retention ideas to the SSRE Task Force by emailing: ssre@usfca.edu.

Student Success, Retention, and Equity Task Force