© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
News
To contact us with news tips, story ideas or other related information, e-mail newsstaff@ideastream.org.

Kent State Wants To Win Back Fomer Students

Photo courtesy of DanielAWhite/Flickr.
Photo courtesy of DanielAWhite/Flickr.

Kent State is looking for a specific group of students: those who have dropped out over the past two years, have above a 2.0 grade point average, haven’t graduated from another institution, and have completed at least 90 credits.

Melody Tankersley, KSU’s Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, said the school wants to welcome back those students who left despite being only about 30 credits - or about one year, full time - shy of finishing their degrees.

She said this new initiative is partially linked to a change in the way public colleges and universities receive state funding.

This is the first year where schools earn money based on how many of their students actually complete courses and degrees, rather than the number of students enrolled.

“I don’t know that we had considered this before and I don’t know when we would have got to the place of considering it without that change,” Tankersley said. “So that change has made us think of things a little bit differently.”

Roughly 1,500 former students will be contacted via phone and email.

Tankersley said KSU plans to offer these students extra perks like more academic advising, the option to take some classes online, and a $500 scholarship to finish their degree.

The university will officially begin its search this summer.