Strategic Priority 1

As Dominican celebrates its 100th anniversary in River Forest, we aspire to secure our position as a leading Catholic, Hispanic-serving institution for improving the economic and social mobility of our diverse graduates. Extending our historic commitment to underserved communities and learners, we believe that alternative and affordable pathways to enrollment, degrees, and credentials will bring this history into a contemporary context.

Operating in the competitive higher education landscape requires us to anticipate market needs, provide programming and innovative credentials that respond to employer expectations, and contribute to the social mobility of first-generation and historically marginalized student populations. Throughout this strategic plan, we will offer an optimal mix of academic programs, delivery options and access points that respond to these economic, social, and labor market needs and ultimately raise the profile of Dominican, making it a destination of choice for its students.

We will advance strategies to expand undergraduate and graduate opportunities in high-demand fields including healthcare, analytics, and STEM. Extending our historic commitment to underserved communities and learners, we believe that alternative and affordable pathways to enrollment, degrees, and credentials will bring this history into a contemporary context.

We will create clear and barrier-free pathways to transfer into Dominican degrees and grow accelerated tracks from undergraduate to graduate degrees to foster continued upward mobility. Understanding the needs of adult learners, we will continue to expand our offerings to include more high-quality, affordable, and accessible degrees and credentials to strengthen our market position and further our responsiveness to Chicagoland’s economic and community development. A commitment to accelerated social mobility means we will grow our accelerated tracks from undergraduate schools to graduate degrees.

Athletic program expansion will create synergy, bringing new scholar-athletes to campus, strengthening our student-focused amenities, and improving student-related infrastructure.