IU student retention steadily increases

While some public universities struggle with graduation rates, IU has managed to keep the retention rate at a steady increase.

A book that is slated to be released this month, “Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America’s Public Universities,” highlights how failure in graduate rates of public universities is overlooked though it damages of the American economy.

Authors of the book, William Bowen, Matthew Chingos and Michael McPherson, said the main reason students have a high dropout rate at public universities is under-matching meaning students choose not to attend the best college they get into. Other reasons include financial issues and the cultural problem that failure has become acceptable, meaning students see no need to graduate in only four years.

However, IU has been able to manage this growing trend.
In relation to the thought of students under-matching where they choose to go to college, Roger Thompson, vice provost for enrollment management, said the profile of students that attend IU is changing.

“As we become more selective, we are attracting a different type of student, a student that is more inclined toward graduating,” he said.

Starting in 2005, the IU freshman-to-sophomore retention rate has gone up from 88 percent to 91 percent in three years.

“The message at IU is positive,” academic adviser Karen Ellis said. “We want to help people find solutions if they want to find them.”

Ellis and Jack Rhodes, associate vice provost for enrollment management and director of First Year Experience Programs, said they both feel that IU strives to give students an intensive influence of first-year advising.

“One of the things we attempt to do that we hope impacts first-to-second-year retention is making a large institution feel small,” Rhodes said. “We do not have numerous 400-seat lecture halls on our campus. We are successful at having smaller classrooms for an institution of our size.”

Rhodes said IU tries to benefit new students by providing one-on-one advising throughout residence halls from the beginning of freshman year.

These halls also provide places for students to eat and shop.

“You can’t improve graduation rates unless you improve retention rates,” Thompson said.

Recruiting and retaining students is the main objective on the IU campus, he said. The trend toward graduation rates for IU is improving.

“Overall, we’re in pretty good shape,” Thompson said.

Financially IU has seen a small slip in out-of-state students within the past year, but the amount that did leave the University is not substantial.

Students come out of graduation with the lowest amount of debt compared to any of the other schools in the Big Ten.

Many programs at IU help students financially, such as the Twenty-First Century Scholars Program, The Hudson and Holland Scholars Program and the Federal Pell Grant Program.  

All of these programs aim to keep students on campus and eventually graduate.

Thompson said one of the unusual things IU offers students in return for their commitment is an investment.

“A basic college degree pays for itself many times over. An IU degree is even more valuable, and our graduates’ earning potential is tremendous,” he said.

Although Thompson was pleased that the retention rate did reach over 90 percent and is in a “safe zone,” he said IU is always focusing on improvement and ways to better the rate of graduates at the University.

“Students begin Indiana University with the expectation and the goal of earning a degree from Indiana University, and we want to do everything we can to ensure that that achievement, that dream, becomes a reality,” he said.