For the second year in a row, we have good news about first-year retention at NMSU. This past year, 74.8% of students who began their college education at NMSU in the Fall of 2022 returned for the Fall of 2023. This is a whopping 2.2% increase over the year prior, and brings us close to the high of 75.5% that we reached before the pandemic. 

Any improvement in the numbers is a cause for celebration, and I also note that our six-year graduation rate increased last year from 50.9% to 52.2%. But I challenge every staff member in the Division of Student Success to also see the students who are not part of these numbers. 

Our first-semester persistence last year was 87.9%, meaning that nearly 12% of all students who started as freshmen in Fall 2022 did not return for a second semester. By the time fall of 2023 came around, another 13% had dropped out. Although our first-year retention is near a record high, we still lost over 25% of that freshman class. These students brought their educational dreams and aspirations to us, and they left without a degree. Many will carry debt from college far into the future. 

The first year of college can set a student on a path to success, but we have been plagued with low retention for years. We know that students are more likely to complete college if they find at least one of the following: 

1. They are engaged intellectually in their education.
2. They have a community that welcomes them with a sense of belonging. 
3. They forge a bond with a faculty or staff member who believes in them and supports their academic journey. 

The environment we make at NMSU helps create the conditions that can engage students, provide a sense of belonging, and support a student’s academic journey. If you have ideas about how we can better support our first-year students to help them be successful at NMSU, send ideas to vpss@nmsu.edu.  I would love to hear from you.