The most effective way to raise retention and graduation rates is to raise admission standards. Currently we have many students who are not in a position to benefit from a college education. Retaining them is really just a way to bilk them of their money -- not to mention the taxpayers. There are students on the border line that we could do more to help, but we are too bogged down with students no where near the "border line". Even if the weakest students do get college degrees, they will not gain much in income. The malls of America can only absorb so many psychology and communication graduates. (See Beyond College for All by James Rosenbaum.)

But why not teach everyone to function at the college level? Because no one has invented an IQ pill. I have students in calculus who cannot find the volume of cube. I cannot help them and I do not want to pay my bills with their money. If these students really want to shoot for a Bachelor's degree they should get their remedial work done at a community college and then decided if a Bachelor's degree is a realistic goal or if they'd be better off pursuing vocational training.

There are many good students here at SIUC. However, they all too often transfer to better schools after a couple of years. We should focus on retaining them.