Sixth National Conference on Best Practices in Black Student Achievement. J. Robert Spatig, Director Undergraduate Admissions

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1 Sixth National Conference on Best Practices in Black Student Achievement J. Robert Spatig, Director Undergraduate Admissions

2 University of South Florida Founded in 1956 as the first public university in Florida to address the needs of emerging urban regions Two separately-accredited institutions USF USF St. Petersburg USF includes USF Tampa, USF Health and two regional campuses USF Sarasota-Manatee USF Polytechnic in Lakeland Total Fall 2009 enrollment of 47,122 students

3 40,087 Total Students USF Tampa in ,917 Undergraduates 7% Asian (1,994 students) 13% Black (3,772 students) 16% Hispanic (4,624 students) 1% International (382 students) <1% Native American (145 students) 3,879 New Freshmen Average High School GPA = 3.72 Average SAT = 1164 ( ) Average ACT = 25 (22-28) 6,191 New Transfers

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5 The Challenge In November 1999, then Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced the One Florida Plan which eliminated the consideration of race, ethnicity or gender in admission to a public state university or community college. After a sit-in by two legislators and a march on the state capitol by 1,000 students, Governor Bush agreed that the effect of One Florida on diversity would be monitored annually. Here s what has happened at USF Tampa

6 In Freshman Admission 2,422 Black high school seniors applied for admission 1,425 were offered admission (59% admit rate) 557 new Black freshmen enrolled (39% yield rate) In : 5,255 Black high school seniors applied for admission 1,126 were offered admissions (21% admit rate) 446 new Black freshmen enrolled (40% yield rate) Applications from Black high school seniors have increased by almost 120%, but we have been able to admit and enroll approximately 20% fewer Black freshmen.

7 # of New Freshmen 6,000 5,291 5,000 4,000 3,946 4,572 4,563 4,931 4,541 4,380 4,271 4,181 3,000 Black Total 2,000 1,

8 In Freshman Admission The average high school GPA was 3.44 The average SAT score was 1067 The average ACT score was 22 The admit rate for freshmen was 73% In The average high school GPA was 3.67 The average SAT score was 1143 The average ACT score was 25 The admit rate for freshmen was 43%

9 18.0% % of New Black Freshmen Enrolled 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 14.1% 15.7% 13.5% 14.5% 12.6% 13.2% 10.7% 10.0% 11.3% 10.7% % of Cohort 8.0% Linear(% of Cohort) 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%

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11 Transfer Admission The University of South Florida is the largest not-for-profit transfer institution in the U.S., enrolling about 9,000 transfers in In USF Tampa enrolled 270 Black Transfers from Florida s community colleges Black transfers comprised 9.5% of the total cohort of 2,844 transfers from Florida s community colleges USF Tampa enrolled 258 transfers from other colleges and universities, including out of state and private two-year colleges Black transfers comprised 10.8% of the total cohort of 2,398 transfers from other institutions

12 Transfer Admission In USF Tampa enrolled 407 Black Transfers from the Florida College System Black transfers comprised 11.8% of the total cohort of 3,452 transfers from the Florida College System This represents an increase of over 50% in Black transfers from this cohort, which increased by 21% USF Tampa enrolled 406 transfers from other colleges and universities, including out of state and private two-year colleges Black transfers comprised 14.9% of the total cohort of 2,729 transfers from other institutions This represents an increase of 57% in Black transfers from this cohort, which increased by just 14%

13 4,000 # of New Florida College System Transfers 3,500 3,419 3,452 3,000 2,844 2,746 2,696 2,769 2,927 2,994 2,977 2,500 Axis Title 2,000 Black Total 1,500 1,

14 16.0% % of New Black Florida College System Transfers 14.0% 12.8% 13.8% 14.0% 13.1% 13.0% 12.0% 11.5% 11.8% 10.0% 9.5% 9.5% 8.0% % of Cohort Linear(% of Cohort) 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%

15 Transfer Admission In February 2007, USF Tampa significantly increased its transfer admission criteria in response to the Florida Board of Governor s directive to reduce new undergraduate enrollment by 5.92%. At that time, we eliminated all transfers with <36 hours (now 30), and we raised the GPA requirements for most cohorts: Lower-level transfers from 2.50 to 3.00 AA transfers from Florida College System from 2.00 to minimum required by intended major Other upper-level transfers from 2.30 to 2.50 ( ), then to 2.75 ( )

16 3,500 # of Other New Transfers 3,215 3,000 2,677 2,714 2,731 2,879 2,939 2,729 2,500 2,398 2,435 Axis Title 2,000 1,500 Black Total 1,

17 16.0% % of Other New Black Transfers 14.5% 14.9% 14.0% 12.0% 10.8% 11.2% 10.5% 10.7% 10.7% 12.0% 12.5% 10.0% 8.0% % of Cohort Linear(% of Cohort) 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%

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19 New Undergraduate Enrollment As a result of our ability to use transfer admissions as a race neutral means of providing access to new Black undergraduates, USF Tampa actually has increased the size of this cohort by 174 or 16% since By comparison, we have increased the total new undergraduate population by 1,174 or 13% over the same time period.

20 # of New Undergraduates 12,000 10,000 9,188 9,753 9,936 10,774 10,589 10,414 10,296 10,905 10,362 8,000 Axis Title 6,000 Black Total 4,000 2,000 1,085 1,252 1,207 1,411 1,320 1,279 1,224 1,475 1,

21 14.0% % of New Black Undergraduates 13.5% 13.5% 13.1% 13.0% 12.8% 12.5% 12.5% 12.3% % of Cohort 12.0% 12.1% 12.2% Linear(% of Cohort) 11.5% 11.8% 11.9% 11.0% 10.5%

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23 Total Undergraduate Enrollment Similarly, due to the improved academic preparation of our new Black freshmen and transfers as well as our enhanced retention efforts led by Undergraduate Studies in partnership with Student Affairs, USF Tampa also has increased the total number of Black undergraduates enrolled by 1,349 or 46% since By comparison, we have increased the total undergraduate population by 9,737 or 38% over the same time period.

24 40,000 # of Undergraduates Enrolled 35,000 31,289 32,335 33,410 33,884 34,367 35,120 30,000 27,462 29,001 25,383 25,000 Axis Title 20,000 15,000 Black Total 10,000 5,000 2,927 3,335 3,597 3,984 4,047 4,196 4,208 4,336 4,

25 13.0% % of Black Undergraduates Enrolled 12.7% 12.5% 12.4% 12.5% 12.6% 12.4% 12.6% 12.1% 12.2% 12.0% 11.5% % of Cohort Linear(% of Cohort) 11.5% 11.0% 10.5%

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27 Student Success Most importantly, since access is at best only half of the equation, USF Tampa has focused attention on student success and degree attainment. In , USF Tampa awarded Bachelor s degrees to 432 Black students, which represented 9.3% of the 4,638 Bachelor s degrees awarded by USF Tampa that year.

28 Student Success Remarkably, in , USF Tampa awarded Bachelor s degrees to 891 Black students, which represented 11.9% of the 7,458 Bachelor s degrees awarded by USF Tampa that year. The total number of Bachelor s degrees that USF Tampa awarded increased by 61% between and The number of Bachelor s degrees that USF Tampa awarded to Black students increased by 106% over that same time period.

29 # of Bachelor s Degrees Awarded ,839 7,073 7,458 6, ,457 5, ,638 5,048 4, Black Total

30 14% % of Bachelor s Degrees Awarded to Black Students 12% 11.1% 11.4% 11.4% 11.9% 10.4% 10.4% % of Cohort Linear(% of Cohort) 10% 9.9% 9.3% 8.9% 8%

31 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% New Freshmen New FCS Transfers Other New Transfers Total New Undergraduates Undergraduate Students Enrolled Bachelor's Degrees Awarded Linear(Bachelor's Degrees Awarded) 10.0% 8.0%

32 The Result While Governor Bush s One Florida Plan has complicated the picture over the last decade in terms of undergraduate admission, it has forced public institutions in Florida to seek race neutral means of providing access to higher education. This appears to have resulted in better prepared students being admitted to and enrolling at USF Tampa albeit more as transfer students than as freshmen. These students subsequently are retained and graduate at higher levels. In the end, that s what matters most!

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34 Questions?