Retention rates for freshmen at Fresno State after a first term on campus increased for a third year in a row, an encouraging sign for a university looking to boost its graduation rates, which run behind average across the 22-campus California State University system.

Fresno State had 3,449 first-time freshmen enroll in the Fall of 2025, and 94.7% returned in the Spring 2026 semester, according to data from its Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

That follows 94.1% for first-time freshmen enrolled in the Fall of 2024 who continued in the Spring of 2025 and a significant jump to 94% for first-time freshmen who enrolled in the Fall of 2023 and continued in the Spring of 2024. The jumps coincide with Fresno State starting its Bulldog Bound program in the Fall of 2023, which guaranteed admission to high school students in the San Joaquin Valley who meet CSU entrance requirements, and includes assistance in applying to college, early financial aid estimates and scholarship opportunities.

The university in recent years also created initiatives to assist students through to graduation including Launch Pad, a summer bridge for incoming first-generation freshmen, and the Start Program, which pairs students with academic counselors. It also has a partnership with Fresno City College, with a goal of increasing the number of transfers between the schools.

“Our enrollment and retention outcomes reflect the intentional, data-informed work taking place across Fresno State,” university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said, in a statement to The Fresno Bee.

“This progress is not the result of any single program. It represents a holistic, campus-wide commitment to meeting students where they are, removing barriers, and surrounding them with the support they need to persist and complete their degrees.”

In the Fall of 2022, the year before the start of Bulldog Bound, the retention rate for first-time freshmen after a first term was 92%.

Gains in retention rates at Fresno State

Fresno State also saw an increased retention rate in the Spring 2026 semester for new undergraduate transfers at 95.7%. The retention rates for first-time freshmen and new undergraduate transfers this spring are at their highest levels since the COVID-19 pandemic. There are 23,047 students currently enrolled at Fresno State, the most for a spring semester since 2018.

Year-to-year retention rates for first-time freshmen also have increased considerably the past three years, jumping to 83.9% for the Fall of 2024 from 77.8% in the Fall of 2022.

“The idea that our continuation rate overall is up is a huge win,” said George Still III, associate vice president for the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

“We have been holistically looking as an institution at practices like academic advising. There is innovation happening related to academic advising on campus. We’ve been removing administrative barriers to student registration. There also have been some additional student affairs, student success, initiatives that either are in their second year or were started in the fall semester, so it has been a fairly comprehensive approach .”

Graduation rates at Fresno State

Keeping those students on a graduation track is an imperative. Fresno State has improved graduation rates for first-time freshmen within four, five and six years, but it lags behind other CSU campuses.

Of the first-time freshmen enrolled at Fresno State in the Fall of 2021, 27.3% graduated within four years, while systemwide 37.3% obtained a degree within four years, according to data from the CSU.

In the Fall of 2020, 27.9% earned a degree within four years and 45.1% within five years, and across the CSU it is 36.2% and 55.1%. In the Fall of 2019, 30% of first-time freshmen at Fresno State received a degree within four years compared to 35.5% systemwide; 50.2% had a degree within five years compared to 55.8% in the CSU; and 58.2% obtained a degree within six years compared to 61.9% in the CSU.

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