By Stephanie Vosk
Though during the 1990s Northeastern has seen a steady increase in graduation rates and the number of freshmen who return to NU for their sophomore year, retention rates still remain an obstacle on NU’s path to the U.S. World News and Reports’ top 100 universities list.
Last year Northeastern saw a freshman to sophomore retention percentage in the low 80s, the best in NU history. But university officials say they still aren’t where they want to be.
Northeastern President Richard Freeland said he is happy with the university’s steady improvement.
“I am generally quite pleased with the improvements we have seen and I think it is due heavily to the fact that we have invested so much in financial aid in the recent past,” President Freeland said. “However, we still have room for improvement and I am optimistic that we will achieve our goals in the next two years.”
As a way to deal with the current retention issues, Northeastern has devised an early warning system.
“We asked the faculty in the fifth week [of the quarter] to let us know of students who were having some difficulty,” said Philomena Mantella, senior vice president of Enrollment and Student Affairs.
Mantella said that anything from poor attendence to class performance results in a student being contacted either via e-mail or by phone to set up a meeting with professors, advisors, etc. She said once the problem is identified early on, a solution can be found so students do not transfer from Northeastern or drop out. Mantella also sees this as an opportunity for faculty to gain a better understanding of what causes students to struggle through their first academic year.
The program is still in its early stages as it was begun fall quarter, so no results have been reported as of yet, though officials are hopeful.
The U.S. World News and Reports’ top 100 universities ranks colleges in the following categories: peer assessment, student selectivity, faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, financial resources, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance.
