Recent news about Temple University’s declining first-year retention rate deserves our attention — not because of what it means for Temple, but because of what Temple means to Philadelphia.
Temple is our city’s only public university and one of its most important institutions. It has long been a place of opportunity for students from Philadelphia and beyond; when Temple students thrive, Philadelphia thrives.
This moment, while difficult for many in our city, presents both a challenge and an opportunity. It dictates that we need to think even more intentionally about what students need to gain from college acceptance, identify the integral tools at their disposal, achieve classroom success, and — ultimately — graduate.
The good news is that we know how to do this work. In fact, much of it is already happening at Temple through programs within the university and partnerships with organizations like Heights Philadelphia.
At Heights, we work with thousands of Philadelphia students to help them successfully transition from high school to college and careers. From 2021 through 2024, 84 percent of Heights students attending Temple returned for their second year. Among the 40 Heights students who enrolled at Temple in 2024, that retention rate was 88 percent.
This year, approximately 200 Heights students will be on Temple’s campus, where they will have access to stipends and additional Heights support, alongside the resources available through the university.
Our partnership with Temple on the Cecil B. Moore Scholars Program provides another example of what is possible. The program provides eligible students from North Philadelphia with full scholarships, access to dual enrollment courses during their senior year of high school, and dedicated advising once they arrive on campus.
These programs reinforce something those of us who work with young people see every day: Students benefit when they have dedicated support, early academic exposure, financial resources, and people who are paying attention to whether they are succeeding.
Temple already understands this. Universities routinely provide more intensive advising, academic resources, and community-building opportunities to specific populations of students. The opportunity now is to take what is working — at Temple and elsewhere — and determine how those practices can reach even more students.
Temple can be a national leader at a moment when higher education is grappling with enrollment, affordability, and student success.
Nationally, institutions such as Georgia State University and Arizona State University have demonstrated the potential of targeted advising, micro grants in financial aid, and academic supports to help more students remain enrolled and progress toward graduation.
The realities facing higher education mean that the narrow focus of the last few decades on selectivity and recruiting students from high income backgrounds is no longer sustainable. The demographics of college-going students are changing. And the institutions that thrive in the years ahead will be those that understand how to serve a wide range of students and provide them with the support necessary to succeed.
For Temple, that means continuing to deepen coordination with organizations like Heights and the School District of Philadelphia before students ever set foot on campus. It will require stronger transitions between high school and college. Most critically it means ensuring students have access to the advising, financial support, academic resources, and sense of community that help them persist once they arrive.
This matters far beyond retention statistics.
When a student leaves college without a degree, particularly after taking on debt, the consequences can follow that student for years. When a student graduates, the benefits extend to their family, their neighborhood, our workforce, and the economic future of Philadelphia.
There is prestige, economic impact, and pride in a Temple that is for all of us.
A Temple for all of us is both more affordable and worthy of greater public investment. It is focused on world class advising and experiences that help all students finish on time with a job. It is an engine of economic mobility where working and middle class students from all over the country want to be “Temple Made” to realize the American Dream.
Temple can be a national leader at a moment when higher education is grappling with enrollment, affordability, and student success. This is our amazing public university and as Temple’s founder Russel Conwell said: “if you wish to be great at all, you must begin where you are and with what you are, in Philadelphia, now.” So it is in all of our best interests to support the success of Temple’s students, our students, right now.
Sean Vereen is President/CEO of Heights Philadelphia.
The Citizen welcomes guest commentary from community members who represent that it is their own work and their own opinion based on true facts that they know firsthand.
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