Addressing Retention Challenges

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 students of color, graduates of Chicago high 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, the "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. DePaul has been featured at national meetings and the approach is explored further in a Jossey-Bass text on student retention titled "Reframing Retention Strategy for Institutional Improvement."

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DePaul was awarded the Best Practices Award for the 4 Ps framework at the 2013 National Symposium on Student Retention conference.

Read the conference paper, "Improving Outcomes through the 4 Ps of Student Retention Framework."

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