Boise State President Marlene Tromp lauded surging graduation rates and record-setting fundraising during her State of the University address Wednesday. 

She also announced that Boise State is close to achieving Research 1 status in the Carnegie Classifications system. R1 is Carnegie’s highest classification for research spending and doctorate production.

In a splashy multimedia presentation at ExtraMile Arena, Tromp shared the university’s progress on its eight-year strategic plan and celebrated faculty and staff, crediting them with the school’s successes. 

“You all have been a beacon of light and hope,” said Tromp, who’s heading into her sixth academic year as president. “In these five years, you have changed our university, you have changed people’s lives and you have changed our state for the better.”

Tromp delivered a burst of data points illustrating headway over the last five years on one of the university’s primary goals — improving education access and student success. 

She touted a  “meteoric” 39% increase in Boise State’s four-year graduation rate. The rate was 43% for the 2019 freshman cohort. And the university’s 78% retention rate — the measure of freshman students who enroll for a second year — is the highest among Idaho’s state universities. 

Tromp highlighted the university’s Strategic Enrollment and Retention Plan, an initiative aimed at aligning Boise State’s student population with Idaho’s overall demographics. The rate Latino students, for instance, is now at 90% of the target — Idaho’s overall Latino population is 13%. 

University leaders who manage student affairs, meanwhile, have prioritized ways to make college easier to navigate, Tromp said. Administrators have updated the housing application process, modernized note-taking services and decreased the average wait time for financial aid assistance from 30 minutes to three minutes.  

“They tried to make everything easier for students, and it’s made a difference in student success,” Tromp said. 

Tromp also recognized Boise State athletics, particularly Esports, for drawing attention to the university. The Broncos’ team is a “powerhouse,” with four national championships, Tromp said, and more young people today are watching more Esports than professional sports. 

“Boise State is reaching a critical demographic of students, to make them aware of this university, with the outstanding excellence of that program,” she said. 

Another strategic goal is advancing research and creating activity, with an eye toward moving up the Carnegie rankings. In 2019, Boise State reached R2 status, a classification for doctoral research universities. 

Now, the university is “just a hair’s breadth away” from reaching R1, Tromp said Wednesday. The baseline metrics for Carengie’s highest research classification are $50 million in annual expenditures on research and development and 70 doctorate degrees awarded each year. Boise State has reached the spending threshold and is just six short of the degree requirement. 

“It will not be long before I stand on this stage and we are celebrating that achievement,” Tromp said. 

Lastly, Tromp applauded record-setting fundraising for the university. And she shared more data: 

• Boise State raised $61.3 million last budget year, which ended in June, the third consecutive record-setting year for donations. 
• 28,146 people donated to the university last year.
• And philanthropic giving has doubled over the past five years.

That fundraising has coincided with Unbridled: The Campaign for Boise State University, an initiative launched last year that has raised $346.9 million. The bulk of the money — $130.8 million — is earmarked for athletics, but Tromp on Wednesday spotlighted $118.4 million financing student scholarships and faculty endowments. 

“I’m so proud of this work,” she said. “It enables our faculty to do their incredible research and enables students to become a part of that in new ways.”