BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — In what has become a familiar trend in recent years, Western Kentucky University students again returned to campus for the spring semester at record rates, President Timothy C. Caboni announced on Tuesday, February 13. Among the university’s retention successes, 85.4% of fall undergraduate degree seeking students who were enrolled in the fall returned for the spring semester, the highest percentage since the university began tracking this data in 2010.
“The retention of our students illustrates the effectiveness of our strategic initiatives in enhancing student engagement; expanding support services; and deepening connections with peers, faculty and staff,” President Caboni shared in his message to campus. “We strive to ensure that every student has access to the resources and support needed to succeed academically and across every area of university life.”
The university made gains in its fall-to-spring retention of underrepresented minority students. President Caboni shared that 83.9% of WKU’s overall underrepresented minority population returned this spring, the highest percentage among this group since the 2010-2011 academic year.
Fall-to-spring retention of first-time, first-year students jumped to 91.6%, compared to 91.1% in spring 2023. This represents a 5.3 percentage point increase since the 2017-2018 academic year, and the highest returning percentage since the university began tracking this data in 2010.
Among low-income first-time, first-year students, 90% returned in the spring, an increase of nearly 5 percentage points since 2019. Additionally, 88.5% of first-time, first-year students who identify as the first in their family to attend college returned for the spring semester, a 2 percentage point increase among this group from last year and a 4.2 percentage point increase since 2019.
The university has renewed its focus on Living Learning Communities (LLCs) in recent years, and nearly a third of first-year students were involved in an LLC to start the 2023-2024 academic year. LLC participation directly affected fall-to-spring retention rates, with 94.8% of first-time, first-year LLC students returning for the spring semester, compared to 90.4% of first-time, first-year students who did not participate in an LLC.
Provost Bud Fischer noted that retention successes such as these require the efforts of everyone on campus. “Our entire campus played a role in elevating our retention numbers,” he said. “When everyone works together in pursuit of a common goal, good things happen. I couldn’t be more proud of the efforts of our faculty and staff to make sure these students returned in the spring.”
