IU Southeast enrollment is down 4.9 percent from last year; however, there are misconceptions about the reasoning for this decrease. IU Southeast should not be blamed or punished for the factors which have led to the low student retention. For the past three years, IU Southeast’s enrollment has skyrocketed, giving the campus its highest enrollment numbers. However, the decrease in fall enrollment was expected. Chancellor Sandra Patterson-Randles said the enrollment drop from 7,256 students to 6,904 is due to a “perfect storm.”

IUS faculty have implemented a new program, FLAGS, in order to help students stay on the track to graduate and, more importantly, to keep them in school. FLAGS stands for “Fostering Learning, Achievement, and Graduation Success.” Faculty now has the ability within their student roster to make note of a student’s attendance. They can also note how regularly they participate and to show if the student has suddenly started slipping academically. The reason for this new program is due to the elimination of the mid-term grade.