More than ever, the students that come to Macalester are coming to stay. According to statistics recently released by the Office of Institutional Research, Macalester’s graduation rates have reached an all-time high.

Eighty-one percent of students from the class of 2004 graduated in four years, representing a three-point rise in the four-year rate since 2003. Statistics also show that 84 percent of students who entered Macalester in 1999 graduated by last spring. This figure represented a four-point rise in the five-year rate from 2003.

Student retention rates have also reached new highs. According to the Office of Institutional Research, 93 percent of students from the class of 2007 have returned to campus this fall for their sophomore year. Statistics show similarly high retention rates for the current junior and senior classes as well, representing an overall rise of four to seven percent in the retention rate over five years.

According to Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Research Dan Balik, the newest graduation statistics place Macalester among the top Midwestern liberal arts schools in terms of graduation rate.

“These rates indicate that we are on ‘the right track’ with what is being done,” Balik said.

“The college has improved the quality of its program on many fronts over the past ten years and continues to attract well-prepared students,” Balik said. “That combination will always result in good graduation rates.”

Dean of Students Laurie Hamre agreed, crediting the higher retention rates to the retention task force that convened during the 1997-1998 academic year. Such initiatives as the first-year seminar emerged from this task force. In addition, she said the task force led to changes in first-year living arrangements and the academic advising system.

“I think that has helped first-years prepare for the academic rigor that is a part of Macalester,” Hamre said.

According to Hamre, the task force’s findings caused the admissions office to refine recruitment tactics. She said admissions created new publicity materials that more specifically reflected Macalester’s liberal arts character and that was designed to appeal to particular applicants. The higher graduation rates prove the success of the refocused recruitment efforts, she said.

“I think we have become the first-choice school for many of our first-years and that has built commitment,” she said.

Alison Nieber ’05 attributed the increasing retention and graduation rates to the willingness she has detected among some faculty members to be flexible in helping students satisfy requirements.

Nieber planned to obtain her teaching license at Macalester until the college lost its licensure capabilities at the beginning of the 2003-2004 academic year. She said that Education Department Chair Ruthanne Kurth-Schai initially suggested that she transfer in order to acquire her teaching certification. However, after much pressure from Nieber, Kurth-Schai eventually made arrangements that allowed Nieber to remain at Macalester and obtain the certification from St. Catherine’s.

“I know that I have had to push really hard and continue to push,” she said. “I feel like if you push hard enough, [professors] make exceptions.”

She also said that the option of enrolling in classes at nearby colleges has enabled her to work around the sometimes-limited schedule of Macalester’s offerings and has helped her graduate on time.