At a Fourth of July gathering an acquaintance confided that her grandson had withdrawn from his college freshman year and now is cloistered in the family basement. He’s too troubled to take next steps, whether that’s a job or a community college course -- let alone returning to his college in the fall.

He has no plan, and that only deepens his gloom.

Newspapers and personal confidences are all telling the same alarming story: America’s young people are struggling with mental health issues.

What does this mean for you as you prepare for college? As you’ve compiled your college lists, you’ve looked at rankings, dorm life, even campus food – but have you examined retention?

Retention can reveal how hard a college works to keep you mentally healthy and intellectually focused. Retention measures the college’s care. You’ve invested yourself in your college; now will it invest itself in you? Will it do all that it can to keep you enrolled, engaged and progressing? Does your college have systems in place and committed staff, ready to notice your struggles and respond effectively?

A college’s retention rate can answer that question. Radiant college websites and brochures may seem to promise a caring campus, but retention rates won’t lie. How do you determine your school’s retention rate?

First, don’t naively accept any retention rate given banner treatment on the school’s website. That rate might be just the percentage of freshman who return for sophomore year – hardly the whole story. To get a more complete and relevant picture, dig into the school’s “Common Data Set.” All schools are now required to publish a common set of revealing statistics about student admission and success.

To find your school’s retention rate, put into your search bar...

1. The college’s name in quotation marks,

plus

2. “Common Data Set.”

For example:

“Chapman University” “Common Data Set”

This will give you a list of web pages– click on the most recently dated options.

There you’ll most likely find a PDF document (but it could also be a hyperlinked webpage). Now, scroll through, searching for “Enrollment and Persistence.” That’s where the treasure is hidden!

Fascinating statistics emerge about how many students “persist” or drop out. I want you especially to focus on statistics that show the outcomes for low-income students. Low-income students are indicated by those who receive a Pell Grant or a Stafford Loan. (Here’s one such image, from Chapman University’s Common Data Set)

Why focus on low-income students? How is this related to mental health? Low-income students often face family, cultural and financial crises. A parent loses his job or hours; a beloved grandparent needs help and the family asks the student to return; the family begins to question the value of a college education, or becomes upset by how college is changing their student.

If a college can help its low-income students navigate these crises, you can bet they are also adept at helping all their students stay the course.

Next, look at the graduation rates for all students – not just those receiving Pell Grants or Stafford Loans. Here comes the shocker. Many students, regardless of income, do NOT graduate in four years!

According to one report...

The national dropout rate for all college students is astonishingly high. Less than two-thirds (59.4 percent) of full-time students who entered a four-year college for the first time in 2007 graduated within six years. Just under 40 percent complete in four years. Of course, wide variations exist. Generally speaking, the more selective the college, the higher the graduation rate. Schools that are open to virtually all students have a graduation rate of 34.1 percent; those with an acceptance rate of less than 25 percent report a graduation rate of 88.9 percent...

Low graduation rates reveal that retention is not a priority. It’s fair to assume, then, that mental health is not a priority.

Here’s my advice. Compose your college list with the Common Data Set at your side. Select those schools that prove, by retention, that they truly care for their students!

(Here’s a link from ScholarMatch -- for whom I volunteer -- on schools that excel in retaining their students.)