As part of SUNY's comprehensive effort to increase student success across the System, and as announced in the Chancellor's 2025 State of the University address, SUNY launched a multi-year Academic Momentum Campaign in the fall of 2025. This Campaign is designed to increase the retention and completion rates of all SUNY undergraduate students and eliminate gaps for Pell-eligible students and other demographic groups. All SUNY campuses are asked to contribute proportionally toward System goals by developing and implementing action plans that both strengthen effective practices already underway and adopt evidence-based strategies that are not yet in place or delivered at scale.
See the SUNY Academic Momentum Campaign Overview.
Ambitious systemwide retention and completion goals will be established for the Fall 2026 entering first-time, full-time undergraduate cohort and will be informed by proportional campus targets. These goals will focus on increasing graduation rates (100% and 150%), one-year retention, credit accumulation, timely completion of gateway English and math courses, and FAFSA completion rates. Taken together, these metrics will provide a comprehensive picture of student momentum across SUNY.
The SUNY Academic Momentum Campaign is being advanced in three phases. In summer 2025, the SUNY Office of Student Success (OSS) launched a discovery process, surveying campuses on their existing student success practices and analyzing campus historical data to inform the development of proposed system goals, campus targets, and planning materials. In fall 2025, campuses began reviewing proposed targets for the fall 2026 entering cohort and assembled cross-functional campus planning teams—moving through a structured planning process supported by SUNY OSS to realize agreed upon targets. In spring 2026, campuses will begin the early implementation of approved plans in preparation for full launch in fall 2026.
If you have any questions about the SUNY Academic Momentum Campaign, please contact us.