Loyola University Chicago and Arrupe College

Completion Commitments [White House Summit on College Opportunity, Dec. 2014]

GOAL:  Loyola University Chicago and Arrupe College commit to adding 975 additional graduates with Associates Degrees by 2020 and 1,300 additional graduates with Associates Degrees from 2020-2025, totaling 2275 additional graduates with Associates Degrees by 2025.

ACTION PLAN: Together, Loyola University Chicago and Arrupe College will collaborate to enable motivated students with limited financial resources and with academic credentials insufficient to secure admission and funding at four year institutions to begin their college careers in a setting designed to maximize their opportunities for academic success.

The mission of Arrupe College will be to serve low-income students who are unable to leave home for college and who have scored between 17 and 22 on the ACT. In other words, these are college-worthy and prepared students who are not likely to be able to win grants and scholarships to support their education. The target population for this program is comprised of low income students who have graduated from Central City College Preparatory High School programs in the bottom three quintiles of their graduating class. Metropolitan Chicago housing patterns mean that these students are disproportionately members of underrepresented minority groups, especially African Americans and Hispanics.

In partnership with Loyola University Chicago, Arrupe College will apply several strategies which research has shown will have positive impacts on helping low income, underprepared and underserved students to gain access to and succeed and graduate from a 4-year college or university. These strategies include:

• Enhanced pre-enrollment advising and support to families to insure students file FAFSAs and are financially literate regarding college costs;
• An educational experience that includes extensive one-on-one contact with experienced, full time faculty; 
• A faculty and staff recruitment and training plan to ensure all members of the Arrupe community share the common goals and values of working closely with each other to ensure student success; and 
• A student support system that is more holistic and better resourced than traditional models.

Other core strategies of Arrupe College have shown promise but are more innovative and yet to be comprehensively studied. They include:

• A financial strategy that permits low income students to fully finance the cost of instruction with financial aid that does not include assuming debt; 
• An educational setting that embeds an Associate’s degree program within a comprehensive university offering baccalaureate, graduate, and professional degrees, providing economies of scale in the provision of significant cost drivers such as libraries and technological infrastructure; and 
• A focused program of studies with limited choices in the first year.