Celebrating Our Retention Wins 💛💙
As we get ready to welcome our Fall 2026 students, I want to take a minute to celebrate some really positive retention news.
SUNY Reconnect students had 9% higher persistence from Fall 2025 to Spring 2026. With 300+ Reconnect students expected this fall (190 last fall), there is a lot of opportunity to build on that momentum. We also saw first-time freshman persistence increase from 76.18% for Fall 2024 to 79.12% for Fall 2025.
These numbers are a reflection of the work happening across our campus and directly support the goals of our Strategic Plan and SEM Plan. Retention isn’t something one office or one person owns. What every single person does on this campus matters. Every conversation, email, appointment, early alert, question answered, and connection made can make a difference for a student.
The Tripp Cares Retention Workgroup and Spring Retention Summit brought forward some great ideas for improving early alerts, communication, and the “nudges” we provide students throughout their journey. We’ll be highlighting these efforts in SUNY Niagara Today each week so everyone can see the great work happening across campus. The Academic Momentum Committee is also doing impressive work that will continue to move us forward.
New York State recently reported that our retention rate for the Fall 2024 cohort reached over 61%—the highest in nine years. Our rates have consistently been around 60–62% over the past five years, which puts us in a strong position compared with the broader community college landscape in NYS.
Let’s keep building on this. Let’s keep showing students that they belong here. And let’s make Fall 2026 our best year yet. 💛💙
Caitlin
Caitlin M. Wetherwax, M.S.Ed.
Student Success Services Director