MICUA

MICUA Matters

Fall 2010

In September, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) unveiled a new website (www.buildingblocks2020.org) designed to highlight and support efforts by nonprofit private colleges and universities to increase the number of at-risk students they enroll and to boost the retention and graduation rates of various student populations. The website is the central component of Building Blocks to 2020, a national initiative organized by NAICU and CIC to help the nation meet President Obama's call to make the United States first in college completion by 2020.

The website provides opportunities for campus professionals working on the front lines of student access, retention, and completion to learn from the experiences of other colleges, and to mine for practices and policies that fit their individual institutional missions and student populations. The website will also serve as an information resource for consumers and policymakers who are interested in what colleges are doing to not only reach out to students from diverse backgrounds, but boost their chances of earning a degree.

Maryland's independent colleges and universities enroll 15 percent of all students, but award 30 percent of all bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees conferred in the State annually. "This higher productivity is directly related to graduation rates," said MICUA President Tina Bjarekull. "MICUA member colleges and universities boast the highest graduation rates in the State. MICUA undergraduates are 64 percent more likely to graduate in four years than students at public universities."

The Maryland section of the Building Blocks to 2020 website highlights retention and graduation initiatives at six MICUA institutions so far: College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Goucher College, Maryland Institute College of Art, McDaniel College, Stevenson University, and Washington College.