Retention is an important area of concern for Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). This project involves devising initiatives to identify and retain students with a high potential for academic success as outlined in the Strategic Plan for the Future of Virginia Commonwealth University, Phase II. It is theorized that by concentrating efforts on students (both in-state and out-of-state) with a cummulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, an improvement in the six-year graduation and freshmen retention rates can be realized. This would serve to enhance VCU’s status in the academic community (moving from Tier 3 to Tier 2 status) since twenty percent of the determining ranking of the U.S. News and World Report’s rankings are derived from the category of retention
