ACCESS AT DEPAUL
DePaul University's commitment to its mission is evident in demonstrable outcomes such as its enrollment mix, financial aid commitments, and graduation rates.
Access Highlights
- The mix of DePaul's undergraduate enrollment is the best evidence of the attainment of this dimension of its mission, with a higher proportion of low-income students enrolled than peer institutions nationally.
- DePaul's annual budget allocation to financial aid demonstrates its commitment to access goals.
- DePaul's focus on centering access initiatives in Chicago has resulted in successful partnerships and opportunities with Chicago Public Schools.
- DePaul achieves exemplary retention and degree completion rates in light of its diverse student profile.
- DePaul sponsors an ever-widening range of successful partnerships and programs designed to promote access and student attainment.
One out of four (26%) of DePaul undergraduates receives a Pell grant (awarded to students from the lowest income families). St. John's University is the only major Catholic university with a higher percentage than DePaul of undergraduates receiving Pell grants (30%). Other than Brigham Young University, there are no nationally ranked doctoral universities (in the top tiers of U.S. News & World Report rankings) with a higher percentage of undergraduates receiving Pell grants than DePaul.
While DePaul's total institutional aid budget has increased 48% since 2004, institutional aid has increased 61% (a two and a half times greater percentage increase than government grants) for students from families with incomes less than $25,000 to a total of nearly $16 million, with the average grant totaling over $9,200.
One out of every ten DePaul freshman (13%) is a graduate of Chicago Public Schools. DePaul had 1,005 full-time undergraduate students from CPS high schools in fall 2009; 331 of those were new freshmen. DePaul enrolls more CPS graduates as freshmen than any other selective private university.
Low-income (Pell grant-eligible) students at DePaul consistently demonstrate as high or higher retention rates (88%) compared to the class at large (85%).
Visit High School Programs and Community Outreach for more information about these programs and partnerships.
Challenges and Opportunities
- Commitment to Mission: The challenge of access obligates DePaul to clarify the scope and nature of its access mission, and bring far greater focus and definition than ever before to the enrollment goals and outcomes that will be the measure of our mission-based achievements. DePaul’s evolving approach to enrollment management and planning has garnered national and international attention for effectively achieving a mission-centered and market-smart balance.
- Financial Aid: Increasing college costs and declining federal and state support for financial aid place increasing burdens on institutions to provide the financial assistance required to ensure access and affordability. However, DePaul does not confine its strategic responses on issues of access to pricing and financial aid solutions.
- Admission Selectivity: As DePaul’s market position improves, the challenge of access will be how to balance greater selectivity in admission with the university’s mission-based commitments to diversity; our access goals require more than financial aid strategies.