Dear colleagues, 

We are reaching out to share some good news to kick off our spring semester. We’ve spent the past year talking about being a student-centered university, ensuring we create pathways to bring students to CU Denver and see them successfully through to graduation and into their chosen careers.

Our spring census data indicates we are continuing the steady progress we began in fall 2025 in attracting and keeping our students. Despite a national enrollment cliff, less than 50% of Colorado high school graduates pursuing college, and stiff competition for college-bound students, our overall enrollment is up nearly 1% (0.6), equating to 81 additional students. We should all celebrate this continued momentum, and we thank you for your contributions in this regard.

But the bigger story is how we did it. We increased the number of undergraduate continuing students by 1.6% (130), and master's continuing students by 0.4% (12). That means students are returning to continue their academic journey with us. That’s good for them and for the university, too.

Retention—both in the traditional sense of students continuing from first year to second year and in the broader sense of students continuing year-on-year to completion—is the most cost-effective revenue strategy we have in our toolbox. Think of new, first-time enrollment as revenue replacing, ideally because students graduate, while retention is the stabilizing factor. If we can increase the number of all students who continue their learning with us at CU Denver by 1%, that equals roughly $1 million in tuition revenue.

We should take a moment to celebrate our progress. We did this together by finding new ways to get students here, such as the CU Denver Direct admissions agreements announced last fall with Denver Public Schools, Aurora Public Schools, and Jeffco Public Schools. Just as important were the changes in practice and the adoption of tools, such as Navigate360, a centralized platform that helps us identify and provide early intervention support for students who may struggle as they transition to college. We know there is still much to do, but we are on our way. We anticipate the ongoing work through the Student Success Transformation Initiative and Academic Transformation working groups will only further enhance the student experience. And that means our students will persist, graduate, and begin their careers. As data shows, they are likely to earn higher wages over their lifetime thanks to their CU Denver education.

Student success is our success

Our students’ success directly impacts all employees. Healthy enrollment and retention are directly tied to our financial health and future. Stable retention rates lead to more accurate budgets and reliable multi-year enrollment forecasts which, in turn, reduce reliance on one-time funds and budget cuts to maintain a balanced budget. With a reliably balanced budget comes reinvestment opportunities in expanded services for our students and for our employees.

You likely remember the university faced a deficit of up to $12 million in fiscal year 2023-24. As a result, the campus launched a multi-year expense reduction plan. The challenging work you did then, and our redoubled focus on enrollment and retention now, have better positioned us today as we embark on the budget process. It’s too early to tell how much state funding we will receive, but we’re in a more resilient position now than we have been in a long time thanks to your efforts.

We all contribute to student success

We are united in our mission to provide students an exceptional education that combines the best of classroom instruction with innovative, hands-on experiences that directly translate into the workplace and help drive our local economy.

It’s this commitment to our students that will make the difference. We see examples every day, including:

• the staff member who walks a student from the registrar’s office to the financial aid office to help resolve a problem.
• the faculty member who reaches out to a first-year student who fails their first exam to let them know they are seen and that there are resources available to turn their performance around.
• the research faculty member who mentors a student into a great internship.
• the community members who steer students toward social, emotional, and mental health resources.
• the campus teams that create warm and welcoming environments around campus where students can find community. If they feel welcomed and engaged, they are more likely to stay.  

As Chancellor Christensen often reminds us, every single employee on this campus, whether student facing or not, contributes meaningfully to student success and should take deep pride in the work they do in these and many other ways.

Our census numbers, albeit modest in measure, demonstrate that our hard work is starting to pay off. We encourage you to continue to find ways—both big and small—to keep up the momentum. We hope you join us on Feb. 18 for the Strategic Plan Refresh event, where we will learn more about how we will continue to move forward.

Go Lynx,

Zina Evans, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Enrollment and Student Success

Ryan K. Davis, Interim Executive Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration