TU among national leaders in college access and equity, student success

By Megan Bradshaw on November 16, 2018

Towson University has joined Powered by Publics: Scaling Student Success, a national initiative aimed at increasing college access and eliminating the achievement gap to help students earn postsecondary degrees. 

The effort, created by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), gives participating institutions a forum to share data and best practices in supporting student success. The schools are grouped into geographical clusters, with each focusing on one or two themes.

TU will work with 11 other schools on retention rate and six-year graduation rate. TU has retention (85 percent) and six-year graduation (72 percent) rates that sit at the top of its cluster.

Among TU students, there is no significant difference in the six-year graduation rate when examining Pell-eligible students and under-represented minority students. In fact, African-American students' six-year graduation rate is even higher than the average. 

“We are pleased to be invited to participate in this important initiative, as Towson University is recognized as a national leader in inclusive student success,” President Schatzel said. “One of our priorities at TU is to relentlessly pursue a more diverse campus where all students, inclusive of all identities and socio-economic classes can thrive. Towson University is one of very few universities in the nation where minority and majority students complete their degrees at similar rates and completion gaps do not point to disparate levels of student success.” 

 

TU’s university partners include Bowling Green State, Central State, Illinois State, Kent State, Miami (OH), Montclair State, Oakland, Maine, Minnesota-Duluth, Western Michigan and Wright State.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland, Diverse and Inclusive Campus and TIGER Way.