signals in higher ed cuts through the noise to surface what’s actually working across admissions, enrollment, student success, and institutional strategy—told by the leaders building what’s next. Each episode turns real-world challenges into clear, actionable takeaways you can apply on your campus today. Expect candid conversations on innovation, policy, and the data behind better decisions. Host: Darin Francis—CEO & Managing Partner at Harbinger Lane Consulting and former host of DisruptED.
From 57% to 75%: How Coppin State Rebuilt Student Retention
What does it take to raise first-year retention from 57% to 75% in just a few years?
Dr. James Stewart is Associate Vice President of Enrollment Services and co-divisional leader for enrollment management and student affairs at Coppin State University, Maryland's most affordable four-year public institution and a historically Black university in West Baltimore. Most of Coppin's students are first-generation, and about 75% receive Pell Grants. Since he arrived in 2022, first-to-second-year retention has risen from 57% to 74–75%.
In this Hard Truths for Higher Ed episode of signals in higher ed, Dr. Stewart explains how Coppin State brought 11 separate departments together in the Eagle Achievement Center, a one-stop shop for wraparound support on the top floor of the library. He describes how weekly strategy sessions and one-on-ones with staff built shared ownership. He also explains why retention is really "recruiting the students back every single semester."
Darin Francis and Dr. Stewart also discuss:
• How strong presidential support helps break down silos and "sacred cows"
• Building student success from scratch at Coppin vs. adding it onto existing structures at DePaul
• "Time to value" for first-gen students, and putting career readiness first
• Why first-year students should go to the career fair in their first semester
• Nudging students instead of relying on dashboards nobody checks
• Climate survey data: students stay because of relationships with faculty, staff and peers
🔗 Coppin State's Eagle Achievement Center: https://www.coppin.edu/eac
Chapters
0:00 Hard Truths for Higher Ed with Dr. James Stewart
1:42 Coppin State's history and who its students are
3:56 The 2022 mandate: enrollment decline and 57% retention
7:29 Planning the Eagle Achievement Center
9:06 Breaking down silos and leading change in higher ed
13:26 Retention work at DePaul vs. Coppin State
16:58 Inside a one-stop shop for student support
20:33 Time to value for first-generation students
25:10 Putting career readiness at the front of the student experience
28:39 How retention work informs recruitment
32:22 A concierge mindset and sense of belonging
35:22 The hard truth: focus on systems and structures
38:57 Final advice: remember why you do this work
signals in higher ed is produced by Harbinger Lane Consulting. We help edtech and workforce founders and institutional leaders turn market signals into real partnerships.
#HigherEd #EdTech #StudentRetention #HBCU
16 Oct 2026
Hard Truths for Higher Ed: It Takes Two to Innovate | Building Co-Readiness With EdTech Partners
Why do so many edtech pilots fail? ECMC Foundation investor Jay Bozman explains why innovation takes two ready partners, and what institutions and startups should ask before they work together.
14 Oct 2026
Hard Truths for Higher Ed: Problems Aren’t Projects | Why Most EdTech Never Makes the To-Do List
What if the reason higher ed buyers don’t buy has nothing to do with your pitch? Darin Francis talks with Rob Snyder, author of The Power of Pull, about why demand starts with a blocked project, not a product.
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