Wright State’s Take Flight Program helps students soar high

Now in its fourth year, Wright State University’s Take Flight program not only is on course with its original flight plan but also is seeing nothing but blue skies of success.

“Healthy things grow,” said Catherine Hernandez Hogan, assistant vice provost for academic engagement. “Take Flight continues to grow every year.”

Take Flight is a needs-based program for academically qualified high school seniors who will be first-year students at Wright State. The program covers up to 18 credit hours of undergraduate tuition each semester for four years.

The program also provides each student with a personal laptop, a $100 textbook voucher each year and a dedicated success team consisting of an academic advisor, a peer navigator and a career consultant.

“We have a whole team cheering them on and helping them get to the finish line,” Hogan said.

The Take Flight Program continues to grow, welcoming 252 new students in fall 2025 — a 58% increase since the program launched in 2022 with 160 students.

“What’s really important is not just the growth, but also how successful these students are,” Hogan said.

In addition, Take Flight students remain at Wright State. Nearly 83% of students who participated in the fall 2024 Take Flight cohort returned for fall 2025, compared to 72.5% of domestic full-time students on the Dayton Campus.

“Now we have data to show that Take Flight works,” she said. “That it is growing and that students are being retained at higher rates than their peers with similar backgrounds. Students are really being successful in this program.”

Hogan said Take Flight aligns with Wright State’s priorities of recruitment, retention and relationships, while also helping to enhance the regional economy.

Through Take Flight, “we are changing the trajectory for these students, their families and their friends who are inspired by them,” Hogan said. “This is a transformative program.”

She added, “By increasing access for these students to education, intellectual growth and to meaningful careers, they’re developing the workforce of this region. They’re taking their families and sometimes their communities to a higher quality of life.”

Hogan noted that Wright State was ranked the top public university in Ohio for student experience by the Wall Street Journal for 2026, underscoring the university’s commitment to expanding access to a high-quality education for all students.

“Wright State wants to provide students with high-quality, affordable education,” she said. “Take Flight is a major way Wright State lives out this commitment.”

About the Take Flight students, Hogan concluded, “They’re soaring, they’re taking flight, just like the program says.”