CHICAGO — Four years ago, the Rev. Michael Garanzini, chancellor of Loyola University in Chicago, was toying with the idea of creating a two-year college that would provide a pathway for low-income students to move into higher education. He reached out to a colleague, the Rev. Stephen Katsouros, a veteran of higher education, who felt under-used and who wanted to make a bigger difference.

“I think so many of us in higher education are wringing our hands because we’re thinking, ‘Are private colleges and universities actually contributing to income inequalities and racial disparities?’ ” Katsouros said. “Who gets to go to college and who doesn’t? Who graduates from college and who doesn’t?”

Today, Katsouros is the dean and executive director of Arrupe College, an effort by Loyola to create the first affordable two-year college for low-income students at a major private university. Following in Loyola’s footsteps, St. Thomas will open the Dougherty Family College in September, with the goal of giving the same opportunity to students in the Twin Cities.

Despite being the first of its kind, for its first year in 2015, Arrupe had 600 applicants for 159 spots. The next school year, 1,100 applied for 180 spots. For the upcoming 2017-2018 school year, more than 1,200 have applied for 200 spots.

“It’s pretty amazing, and we haven’t graduated anyone yet,” Katsouros said. “it’s not like, oh well, they have this great track record of success.

“We’re determined, and a lot of our students kind of pick up on our driven attitudes that failing is unacceptable.”

Individualistic approach

As part of a Jesuit university, Arrupe focuses on developing the whole person. Students are paired up with a faculty adviser, with whom they meet at least twice a semester, but some choose to meet weekly or even daily. Students discuss any academic or administrative questions they may have, but some see their adviser as a mentor.

Abigail Bautista, a sophomore major in social and behavioral sciences, values the unique relationship she has developed with the faculty.

“It’s not just like a student and teacher,” Bautista said. “You also get to talk about how you’re doing outside of school, what your life is like, how’s your family, and it just feels really it’s just like a person, it’s not like a professor.”

For Trenton Stillwell, a first-year arts and humanities major, having a strong support system in the staff is what keeps him working toward his degree on tough days.

“If I don’t feel motivated … you know you have those people that will come to you like, ‘You know you’ve got to get this degree, you know you’ve got to go for it,’ “ Stillwell said. “Somebody is motivating you to keep you moving forward.”

Minerva Ahumada, a philosophy professor and an adviser, has been able to see her students grow academically and socially during her time at Arrupe. She sees the individualized connection as something unique that isn’t being done at any other college.

“I don’t think that when I was in college I had any of that,” Ahumada said. “I went to a college where it was important that I paid my fees, it was important that I showed up for classes, it was important if I was struggling with any of my classes. There was nobody there asking what’s happening.”

John Buethe, assistant dean for academic affairs, sees this one-on-one connection as one of Arrupe’s greatest assets.

“It’s very difficult to craft an experience to individualize,” Buethe said. “Arrupe … has the ability to see a student as a singular person who has unique challenges and unique needs, and we’re able to sort of triage that because we know the student so well.”

Finances

Arrupe’s tuition is $15,804 a year. All students are expected to live at home and commute to campus to hold down the cost of room and board. On average, students receive about $10,000 in state and federal aid. Arrupe’s goal is for their students to pay no more than $2,000 in out of pocket expenses a year.

To meet that goal, Katsouros has reached out to the community for fundraising and expects the 20 members on the board to contribute to expenses. With no alumni network, he relies on showing off the Arrupe mission to friends, colleagues and the community.

“I have no alumni. Nobody has graduated yet,” Katsouros said. “Our students come from low income backgrounds, so I can’t say to their parents, ‘OK, write a big check.’ ”

A key to keeping down the cost has been housing the college in an existing building on the Loyola campus. Like St. Thomas, Arrupe has two campuses. The Lakeshore campus houses the majority of undergraduate students, and the Water Tower campus hosts graduate and Arrupe students.

Arrupe students are considered part of Loyola University, and have access to all the amenities on the main Lakeshore Campus.

“I’ve received many more opportunities that I ever would have thought of coming into Arrupe,” sophomore Carlos Luna said. “Which is something I’m really grateful for, this opportunity to access all these resources that wouldn’t have been given to me at city colleges here in Chicago.”

Arrupe’s structure

Arrupe thrives in a rigidly structured environment with a flexible and supportive staff. The 15 faculty members don’t divide themselves into certain departments or roles. Because they are so few, they believe it is in the student’s best interest to be able to serve them in as many ways as possible.

“The best way we can serve students is sort of generalistic, because we see those connections and we see how one piece can impact another,” said John Buethe, assistant dean for academic affairs.

Although faculty members are flexible in meeting individual student needs, they keep their schedule as structured as possible. Students are divided into morning or afternoon classes, meaning that they will be on campus from roughly 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. or from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. They take two classes a day to allow them to have a structure to balance work and family obligations.

“Logistically it’s tricky from the standpoint of scheduling,” said Jennifer Boyle, associate dean for academic affairs. “But the students seem to thrive with the regularity of the pattern, and there’s still a lot of freedom in their day.”

Arrupe doesn’t hold classes on Wednesdays so the students can catch up with homework, fulfill familial or work obligations, and meet with their advisers. This also gives the opportunity for the faculty to meet weekly to ensure that they are giving students the personal help they need.

“We talk about individual students, where they are and the challenges they have, and how we can support them,” Boyle said.

Arrupe offers three associate’s degrees: social and behavioral sciences, arts and humanities, and business. Once the students graduate, the teachers expect many to go on to pursue their bachelor’s degrees, but others will enter the workforce after earning their associate’s degree.

“Some will be done with their associate’s degree, and that will be great,” Boyle said. “Getting the associate’s degree will be a tremendous accomplishment for everyone, and they might not go right on to a bachelor’s degree.”

Mary Brickner can be reached at bric0029@stthomas.edu.