ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES OF IMPROVING RETENTION RATES

Addressing the Challenges of Improving Retention Rates

DePaul University faces a number of retention challenges that require an atypically broad and integrated approach. Its student population is more diverse than its peers, and DePaul is far more attuned than peer institutions to the challenges facing first-generation students, low-income students, underrepresented minorities, graduates of Chicago schools and those whose backgrounds result in a lower level of academic preparedness.

In light of these challenges, DePaul recognizes that retention strategies must embrace the fact that retention is never the goal in itself, but rather the natural outcome of realizing a broader goal of ensuring congruence between student and institutional expectations and the reality of the student's entire educational experience in and out of the classroom.

DePaul's articulated approach to student retention, "4 Ps of Student Retention," which is led by the university's Executive Retention Group, has been recognized by higher education groups as a model for framing and addressing the issue of retention

Using Data to Define and Drive Decisions that Affect Retention

The cornerstone of DePaul's approach to improving retention has been researching patterns of undergraduate student retention, attrition and degree completion at DePaul. This research allows DePaul to empirically evaluate what works and what doesn't work in improving student retention outcomes.

Preliminary research has illustrated the primacy of first-year academic success to long-term degree completion. In addition, research findings have offered insight into how factors such as parental educational attainment, family income and racial/ethnic identity interact in explaining rates of student attrition; and the degree to which financial aid can be an effective mechanism for improving degree completion rates.