Potter College News

Institutions can always widen the front door. But too often that approach means admitting students we know are not yet positioned to thrive. And in some cases, it may mean investing scarce scholarship dollars simply to reach an arbitrary number.

Since 2017, we have made deliberate and sometimes difficult decisions - strengthening admissions standards, adding additional support mechanisms for students who may be at risk and aligning our resources more intentionally around student success. Those decisions reflect our commitment to inviting students to WKU who are prepared to succeed while ensuring that we surround them with the academic support, mentoring and engagement opportunities necessary to help them flourish. That work continues to yield extraordinary results:

• This past year, WKU achieved its highest one-year retention rate in institutional history at 79.4%. Nearly eight in ten of our first-year students returned for their second year - a powerful affirmation that students are finding community, support and momentum here.
• We also recorded our highest four-year graduation rate at 50.7%, meaning more than half of our students are completing their degrees on time. This, in turn, reduces debt, accelerates career readiness and fulfills the promise they made to themselves and their families. And our six-year graduation rate climbed to an all-time high of 59.1%, reflecting sustained progress across multiple cohorts and reinforcing that our focus on persistence and completion is working.
• Perhaps most importantly, we awarded 4,688 degrees last year, the largest number of annual degrees in WKU’s history. That represents 4,688 stories of perseverance and possibility. And, notably, WKU is producing more undergraduates than any university in Kentucky except UK.                     

These outcomes are not accidental. They are the result of your dedication in classrooms, laboratories, offices and every corner of our campus. When we prioritize student success, we strengthen both our mission and our institutional reputation.

Let’s fill the stands, celebrate our student-athletes, demonstrate our WKU spirit and enjoy some time together outside of our daily routines!

Go Tops!

Best,

Timothy C. Caboni