My daughter has her heart set on University of Tampa. What do people think about their retention rate? I have seen it reported at about 76%. I know this is average for the country as a whole, but I am not satisfied with that number. The other schools (Penn State, JMU, University of Delaware) she is considering have retention rates of 90% and higher. What are the primary factors leading to this rate? I am am sure it must be related to distance from home for many students, but what else?
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Both school selectivity and affordability are two of the biggest factors in graduation rate (similar to freshman retention rate). UTampa has the lowest average SAT score so I would expect it to have the lowest freshman retention rate by just looking at SAT.
UTampa: 1170
JMI: 1205
PSU: 1265
UDel: 1269
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I’m pretty sure they overenrolled a year or two ago so housing was an issue. Maybe still is.
I think they offered large merit and their yield was much higher than expected. I seem to recall my S20 mentioning it because it impacted some of his classmates. We’re from PA.
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My daughter is a current freshman at UTampa. The majority of the kids she knows are from the Northeast/mid Atlantic. Homesickness is a big issue. It is hard for 18-19 year old kids to be so far from home. I think some underestimate how hard it will be. Then there are those that chose Tampa for the weather/party scene, who fail out due to poor grades. Those seem to be the biggest reasons for less freshman retention. I would recommend for your daughter to get involved in clubs, Greek life, etc. My D joined a sorority in the fall and that has helped a lot. She absolutely loves Tampa and is thrilled with her choice. I’m happy to answer any other questions you may have.
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Thank you. That does really make sense.
Thanks so much for your response. I hope my daughter is choosing it for the right reasons. She is hoping to be on the swim team, so I think that will help with the transition and finding her group. Nice to hear your daughter is enjoying her first year.
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I heard about this for the current freshman class. I wonder how things are playing out this season. I have heard far more students seem to have been placed on a waitlist this year.
In regards to housing, last year there was a big debacle with some families insisting that they were told that freshmen were guaranteed on campus housing. FWIW, when we toured last Feb (after my daughter was accepted), we very clearly heard the admissions rep say that housing is not guaranteed and for students to send in their deposit and housing application as soon as possible. Housing is assigned on a first come, first served basis so those who sent in their housing applications (it goes by that date, NOT the date that you paid the deposit) the earliest will have a better chance of being on campus. My daughter got hers in early enough that she is on campus this year, but many did not. Tampa seems to have learned from that and now the website very clearly states that on campus housing is not guaranteed.
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Yes it definitely will help! I’ve heard the swim team is great!
Does anyone know how many freshman end up living off? I’m wondering if kids are behind the 8-ball already if they get in RD instead of EA?…
A young woman in my H’s family, first generation college student, went to Tampa last year and was home by mid October. She is from Philadelphia, had never visited Tampa and was in over her head from day one.
Her room was at a hotel, short walk to campus and was really nice.
She just really struggled with home sickness, making friends etc.
Well, a boy from my D’s high school is living in the Barrymore Hotel this year. Every year Tampa uses the Barrymore for overflow (not uncommon esp for urban schools, when I was at BU decades ago they used the Sheraton for overflow student housing). Most years they have students on 2 floors. This year they are using the entire hotel. One of my D’s friends is in an off campus apt. I don’t think there are too many freshmen who ended up attending and living off campus. Some withdrew when they were waitlisted for on campus housing, and some deferred a year (Tampa offered a $ incentive to defer). I don’t know how many deferred, but that may affect next year’s freshman class if it is a high number. Also the freshmen who did end up living off campus this year get priority on campus housing for next year. Again, not sure how many kids that is.
Sorry to hear, but very common thing to happen at UTampa.
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