Photo credit: Baltimore Sun

Morgan State University has announced the award of a three-year, $716,700 grant from Lumina Foundation to support the University’s implementation of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Student Success Project, a proactive effort to implement strategies that evidence suggests can increase completion rates, while improving outcomes for historically underserved students. The project, which was designed to extend positive steps already taken by the University, will utilize data drawn from a comprehensive student analytic system to improve academic, financial and social supports. It also includes technical assistance and evaluation support for the University.

Morgan is one of three prominent HBCUs and the only public university among those selected to be awarded grants totaling more than $1.5 million. The other HBCU participants involved in the project are Dillard University and Howard University.

“We are fortunate to have this opportunity to expand our relationship with Lumina Foundation by being selected as one of the standout HBCUs participating in this student success project,” said Morgan President David Wilson. “Bringing this initiative to Morgan complements current efforts underway and serves to enhance our recent success with improved retention and graduation rates. In spring 2016, we launched Morgan’s 50 by 25 Campaign as a university-wide effort to increase graduation rates at Morgan to 50 percent by the year 2025, and with Lumina’s support over the next three years, we are hoping to improve student retention by 4 percent while significantly increasing on-time and six-year completion rates on the road to that goal.”

The HBCU Student Success Project supports targeted work to close attainment gaps between various student groups on campus, specifically to increase the academic success of those who are Pell-eligible. Morgan will implement a predictive analytics solution that will identify at-risk students. Once those students have been identified, Morgan will use interventions such as proactive academic advising and experiential learning opportunities to ensure each student remains on a positive track toward success. Predictive analytics will enable the University to respond more rapidly and in a more pointed and sophisticated way when students experience difficulties. Another strategic component involves the implementation of a second-year experience program.

This story was written by the MSU Newsroom at morgan.edu, where it was originally published. This story is published here with permission.