Case Study: Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry achieves improved holistic admissions and better prediction of student success with Liaison

Dental Hygiene Programs and the Quest to Predict Student Success

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry (VCU SOD) faced a growing challenge: incoming dental hygiene students’ pre-enrollment GPAs rose, yet program performance did not consistently follow, making it difficult to predict which applicants would succeed. To address this “stab in the dark,” VCU SOD adopted a mission-driven, holistic admissions approach and turned to the Liaison-powered ADEA DHCAS centralized application service to help evaluate applicants on a broader set of criteria beyond GPA.

Using Liaison’s ADEA DHCAS, VCU SOD implemented a seven-criteria admissions rubric, gave applicants and faculty online access to files, and used comprehensive reports to identify missing application items and improve applicant communication. Liaison’s platform streamlined logistics for small admissions teams, extended limited resources, increased program visibility (contributing to more diverse incoming classes at peer schools), and produced measurable operational benefits such as online faculty review and actionable reporting to close application gaps.

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry

Michelle McGregor

Director of Dental Hygiene Program