At a meeting of the Academic Council, the Industrial University of Santander presented its 2025 Academic Report and the strategies that consolidate one of its greatest institutional achievements: student retention. The figures speak for themselves: 96% of students who enroll at the UIS remain and complete their education, while 92% pass their courses. In addition, dropout rates continue to decline.
The presentation was led by the Academic Vice-Rector’s Office and the Academic Excellence System (SEA), which have coordinated efforts to identify risk factors, intervene in critical subjects, and strengthen comprehensive support for students.
“Today, the Academic Council presented the results of last year’s academic assessment in order to analyze the academic performance indicators of the university’s undergraduate students and define strategies to improve student retention and timely graduation,” explained Claudia Milena Ortiz Gómez, coordinator of the Academic Excellence System.
Staying and graduating: an institutional commitment
A retention rate of 96% is not an isolated figure. It is the result of a sustained policy of academic, psychosocial, and socioeconomic support involving the rector’s office, vice-rector’s office, schools, teachers, and student tutors.
“Right now, our student retention rate is 96%, which is very good compared to other universities nationwide. This is due to the different strategies and commitment of the rector’s office and academic units to keep students in the university,” said Ortiz Gómez.
For her part, the academic vice-rector, Olga Mercedes Álvarez Ojeda, stressed that the analysis is not limited to celebrating positive figures, but also allows for timely decisions to be made: “At the Academic Council, we presented the academic balance sheet for 2025, where we showed indicators such as the percentage of students who remain at our institution for an academic period, which is a fairly high and satisfactory percentage of 96%.”
He added that “we also present the percentage of students who remain PFU or have dropped out, and fortunately, we have seen a decline,” as well as course failure rates to focus actions on those with the greatest difficulties.
One of the central pillars of the SEA is intervention in subjects with high dropout or cancellation rates. Currently, the UIS provides academic tutoring to 6,718 students in more than 290 critical subjects.
“We serve more than 290 critical subjects at the university, that is, we focus on the subjects that students fail and drop the most. We have tutors who are outstanding students who accompany their peers, and in this way we strengthen the difficulties or different aspects that may prevent students from performing well,” explained the SEA coordinator.
This peer tutoring model not only reinforces content, but also builds academic support networks that directly impact performance: 92% of students pass their courses, an indicator that confirms the effectiveness of the strategies implemented.
Academic, socioeconomic, and biopsychosocial support
The path to academic success at UIS is comprehensive. It is not limited to the classroom. It recognizes that performance is influenced by economic, emotional, family, and health factors.
“The SEA seeks to take a comprehensive approach to students so that all their needs and difficulties that may affect their academic performance are addressed,” said Ortiz Gómez, explaining that the support includes cognitive and pedagogical components, as well as socioeconomic and mental health aspects.
From the Academic Vice-Rector’s Office, the strategy is structured on different fronts. “We also present the academic excellence system program, which includes all the support our students have so that they can successfully complete their curriculum and graduate on time, which has different fronts,” said the vice-rector.
These include:
Academic tutoring for critical subjects.
Socioeconomic support programs through assistantships, university dining halls, and residence hall spots.
Strategies for “learning to learn,” such as the neurocognitive program.
Support for biopsychosocial development, with physical and mental health services.
“We also have the biopsychosocial development program, which includes all the health support provided by student welfare services. So, the SEA encompasses all of this and is aimed at students so that they can succeed academically,” Álvarez Ojeda pointed out.
The institutional commitment also involves teachers. The Academic Vice-Rector’s Office strengthens teacher support through the Teaching Mission program.
“Support for teachers is also being strengthened through the Teaching Mission program, so that teachers can understand how students are doing, what difficulties they face, and work together with them,” explained Ortiz Gómez.
This coordination allows each school and academic program to intervene in a timely manner in critical subjects and adapt teaching strategies that respond to the realities of the student body.
Behind the 96% retention rate are thousands of academic trajectories that continue, dreams that do not stop, and life projects that move toward timely graduation. The progressive decline in dropout rates confirms that data-driven decisions, close support, and a comprehensive view of the student are yielding results.
