Enrollment hours see first year-to-year increase since 2010, university initiatives lead to continued student success
Enrollment and retention rates are seeing positive trends at Indiana University Northwest, according to IU’s official campus census report. The Northwest campus has also seen overwhelmingly positive trends in graduation rates, grades and more among students.
These positive trends did not come as an accident, either, as years of university-wide initiatives focused on increasing enrollment, retention and graduation rates have proven successful.
“IU Northwest is proud to be IU in the region, providing a first-rate education that prepares our students to become our region’s future leaders, professionals and global thinkers,” said Vicki Román-Lagunas, Interim Chancellor of IU Northwest. “We are proud of our campus’s long-standing commitment to provide a truly transformational education that is affordable and accessible—for all.”
Per Indiana University’s census data, IU Northwest’s fall 2024 enrollment data showed a 3% increase in overall credit hours while campus headcount remained stable.
This positive trend marks IU Northwest’s first year-to-year increase in fall credit hours since 2010 and stabilized declining enrollment numbers seen over the past decade-plus. First-year enrollment, students of color and retention rates have also continued to increase.
More than half of IU Northwest students – 56% – are persons of color. An Hispanic Serving Institution, IU Northwest remains the most diverse of all IU campuses with 28.1% of students identifying as Hispanic/Latinx and 20.9% identifying as Black/African American, an 8.2% increase from last year.
IU Northwest also saw a 9% rise in first-year students, a 5.4% increase in full-time degree-seeking undergraduates and a 25% bump in non-resident students, which now make up nearly 7% of the student population.
As enrollment has increased, so too has student retention. Current campus-wide retention rates are at 71.4%, a nearly 10% increase from 2015.
The most dramatic shift in graduation rates has been from the Black/African American student population. Currently, the six-year graduation rate for Black/African American students is 22.9%, marking an almost eight-fold increase from 2015’s 2.6% graduation rate.
In addition, campus wide DFW rates (students who receive a D, F or do not finish a course) are 21.8%, a nearly 10% drop from 2015. Campus-wide mean GPA is now 2.76, up from 2.41 in 2015.
IU Northwest has implemented university-wide programs through the INVEST and TRIUNFOS initiatives along with the Strategic Enrollment Management committee which have directly correlated to the strong enrollment and student success trends the campus is seeing today.
For more than a decade, IU Northwest faculty and staff have strived to investigate and implement best practices to address student success. In more recent years, the campus received two grants from the Department of Education and launched the INVEST and TRIUNFOS initiatives that allowed the campus to enhance its focus on student success. Campus leaders, faculty and staff came together to create the Strategic Enrollment Management team to address everything related to the enrollment and retention of our students.
Before students even arrive on campus, Summer Bridge gives them a sense of belonging and participating students have seen higher retention rates than the rest of the student population. Faculty participating in active classroom learning and Pedagogical Interest Groups have seen reduced achievement gaps, lower DFW rates and higher grades among their students. Efforts to enhance infrastructure have also led to the creation of the collaborative STEM Center and the planning of the Student Success Center, among future continued student-centered initiatives.