2021 VSU POINTS OF PRIDE
VSU is one
of Virginia’s two land-grant
institutions and is fully accredited by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Colleges. VSU develops student leaders who
are more engaged with their learning and are equipped with the
knowledge, skills, and disposition to be globally competitive while remaining
civically engaged. Here are a select few of our VSU Points of Pride for 2021.
• Opens doors for GREATER access to lifelong learners
• Provides GREATER educational opportunities to increase the economic outlook for generations to come
• Provides GREATER outreach as an 1890 land-grant university extending GREATER expertise to improve the quality of life in our
state, nation and world
• Provides a personable, stable, nurturing holistic atmosphere conducive to GREATER learning, growing, and transforming
• Develops GREATER leaders who are globally competitive while remaining civically engaged
Virginia State University placed in the top 30 in the category of Best
Overall HBCUs for 2022 according to U.S. News and World Report. The
annual list examines factors such as retention, alumni giving, faculty
resources, graduate indebtedness, and student excellence.
Virginia State University is ranked in the top 30% in the “Performers on
Social Mobility” list. This listing examines how well the university graduates
students typically from low-income households within a 6-year time frame.
Virginia State University is ranked in the Top 10 in Student Retention
Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The
University ranked 8th on the list released by UniversityBusiness.com, using
the U.S. Department of Education Scorecard for 2019-2020. The high ranking
is a result of the university’s ability to retain and graduate students.
Virginia State University is ranked by Washington Monthly Magazine in
the top 15% of Bang-for-your-Buck institutions in the Southeast Region of
the United States. The list was determined by the institution’s ability to
aord access to marketable degrees for non-wealthy students.
Virginia State University announced new names for four previously
unnamed buildings on campus. The VSU Board of Visitors approved
renaming each of the four buildings to honor Black women, all VSU alums,
who have made significant contributions to Virginia State University.
The VSU Center for Entrepreneurship in the Reginald F. Lewis College of
Business and the Division of Research and Economic Development at
Virginia State University was awarded a $453,000 grant by GO Virginia, a
Commonwealth of Virginia-funded program, to spur minority
entrepreneurship via the creation of the "Minority Small Business Launch
Center." The Minority Small Business Launch Center was designed to
increase the self-employment rate of minorities and the performance of
early-stage minority-led firms in the cities and counties within the
Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
Virginia State University was selected by Governor Ralph Northam for a
new initiative that will position the University to become a major pipeline
for filling the STEM teacher shortage in Virginia. HBCUTeach is a national
initiative developed as an innovative way to recruit undergraduate science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at Historically
Black Colleges and Universities and prepare them to become teachers. VSU
is among the first HBCUs to implement the HBCUTeach program. Through
the program, VSU students can receive their secondary teaching
certifications while also completing a STEM major, without additional cost
or increasing the number of semesters they spend in college.
The Virginia State University (VSU) Undergraduate Elementary Teacher
Preparation Program was named among the top in the country for
contributing to greater teacher diversity by the National Council on Teacher
Quality (NCTQ), a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research and policy organization.
The VSU program is among only 21% of the 1,256 evaluated across the country
and among only six programs in Virginia to be recognized in the new NCTQ
report. The VSU program stands out for its eorts in enrolling a cohort of future
teachers that is both more racially diverse than the state’s current teacher
workforce and reflects the racial diversity of their surrounding community.
Virginia State University enrollment grew by 280 for a total of 4300 students
in fall 2021. This is an increase of nearly 7 percent over the fall 2020 semester.
The increase is also the single largest year-to-year increase in enrollment at
VSU in more than a decade. In addition, VSU is reporting an impressive 76
percent retention rate. Retention rate is the percentage of a school's first-time,
first-year undergraduate students who continue at that school the next year.
This is the highest retention rate at VSU in more than twenty years.
Virginia State University (VSU) and Virginia Commonwealth University
Massey Cancer Center (Massey) partnered together to use a prestigious
“team science” grant to create a program that’s the first-of-its-kind in the
state of Virginia. The $1.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute
(NCI) will be dispersed over a four-year period and will focus on reducing
cancer disparities and providing hands-on research opportunities to
students who are historically underrepresented in science.
Virginia State University entered into a partnership to study best
practices that impact STEM persistence and retention at Historically Black
Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This collaborative work is being
performed by the HBCU STEM Undergraduate Success Research Center,
an initiative designed to tell the story behind the disproportionate number
of HBCU students who go on to receive terminal degrees in Science,
Technology, Engineering or Math.
Virginia State University received a portion of a $1 million donation and a
commitment for a yearly gift from an online gaming company and its
equity partner. VSU is one of five HBCUs presented with the first of an
expected annual investment by Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG)
and the Virginia Sports and Technology Group (VSTG).
Virginia State University announced an initiative that makes the
University a Community Center for Coding and Creativity. The program is a
part of Apple’s Community Education Initiative and Tennessee State
University’s HBCU C2. The innovative teaching and learning initiative is
designed to empower Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
to expand technology and creativity experiences within their institutions
and broader communities.
Virginia State University announced the establishment of Virginia’s first
and only military cultural competency training certification program
oered at a university. The online Homefront Readjustment for the Armed
Forces certificate program is designed to teach students how to interact
with active duty service members, veterans, and their families with
consideration for military culture and sensitivities. In the program,
participants learn to identify and facilitate access to essential services and
resources, social support, case management, care coordination, and
advocacy options for the military community.
Virginia State University created the VSU Public Health Institute which is
designed to address health
disparities within underserved groups through
outreach, academic endeavors, public health workforce development and
research agendas in preparation of public health professionals for the future.
Virginia State University established the nation’s first HBCU Center for Policing
Leadership and Social Justice. The newly established initiative, known as The
Center, will further allow VSU and the surrounding communities to address the
critical divide between law enforcement and communities of color.
Virginia State University hosted the Inaugural James Arthur Baldwin
International Symposium (JABIS). The web-based research and artistic forum
showcased scholars and artists from North America, Europe, Africa, and the
British North Atlantic archipelago of Bermuda.
Invest in Virginia’s Access and Opportunity University and in the future of our VSU
Trojans. Visit [email protected].
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