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And we expect to see our graduation rates continue to
improve because of our increased efforts to support
students. Our Multicultural Emerging Scholars Program, which
consists of a summer bridge program and a living learning
community, gives students a head start the summer after high
school graduation. Students receive a scholarship which
enables them to take six undergraduate courses and covers
room and board for the summer.
In addition to this program, our two early arrival programs,
The Multicultural Orientation & Resources for Excellence (M.O.R.E.)
Institute and Summer Scholars Program bring newly admitted
students to campus three to five days in advance of the fall
semester to help them make the transition from high school
to college. Both programs allow students to learn about all
of the resources UToledo provides to ensure their success.
One of the most important student success indicators we
track is the first-to-second year retention rate. I’m
pleased to report that the overall first-to-second year
student retention rate at UToledo has increased for seven
consecutive years. From 2016 to 2018 the overall retention
rate increased 1.8 percent, with increases of 3.9 percent
among African American students, 0.7 percent for Hispanic
and Latino students and 15.1 percent among students who
identify as multiracial.
We are committed to increasing efforts to promote access to
a UToledo education and growing our numbers of
underrepresented students in all academic areas. The ethnic
makeup of our student body has remained mostly unchanged in
recent years, which is why we recently added in September a
new assistant director of multicultural admission position
to our undergraduate enrollment management team. In response
to national trends of declining numbers of underrepresented
students in healthcare programs, we have also added a new
role of associate dean of diversity and inclusion in the
College of Medicine and Life Sciences.
While we still have much work to do, we remain committed to
implementing the strategies necessary to recruit, retain and
graduate underrepresented students. We appreciate the
ongoing community support in helping us achieve these goals.
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