Yes, student retention is an admissions issue: here's why you should be looking at the admissions process as a foundation for retention - The Admissions Angle

University Business, July, 2003 by Howard Greene, Matthew Green

Here's an unhappy little story to which we were recently privy: A student at a selective university was asked to leave after her first year, due to academic probation. She did not handle her academic warnings appropriately, had little advising to help her do so, and ended up being separated from the university. At no time were her parents notified, and she continued to live in the college town and take extension courses through the university for another two semesters, all the while telling her parents that everything was fine. By the time they found out, she had burned her bridges with the university, and had made many other transfer opportunities untenable. Certainly, had the school proactively engaged her after her first semester of academic warning, and asked her permission to notify her parents, they might, as a team, have come up with a plan to help her succeed, or help her find a more appropriate college. Possibly, this trauma for the student--and the attrition statistic it represents for the school--could have been avoided altogether.

Recently, we wrote about the importance of student retention for admission officers seeking to increase their school's yield during the later stages of the admission process. But let's turn that equation around: If you're reading this article, and you are responsible for improving student retention, shouldn't you be considering the admission process as a foundation for retention? Attracting, admitting and enrolling qualified, interested, motivated, and--importantly--appropriate students who understand the realities of your campus culture and its academic and social demands will give you your best odds for retaining happy and successful students through graduation. Conversely, luring underprepared, disinterested, ill-informed and inappropriate students who have been marketed a glossy view of campus and academic life will likely lead to a low sophomore retention rate, increasing attrition, and, finally, a low graduation rate.

THE UGLY TRUTH: A HARD LOOK AT THE STATS

Fundamentally, what is good for the students can be equally good for an institution. A high retention rate signifies strong campus morale, engagement, and financial well-being for the institution, A higher graduation rate, and happy and engaged alumni, are the ultimate goals. This is how institutions build their core constituency, reputation, endowment, and quality over time. Though given current demographic trends, today's higher ed consumer base (students, parents, high schools) seems to present unlimited opportunity and security for IHEs, the increasing diversity of students (and the unevenness of their academic backgrounds) present real challenges for admission officers and administrators. Students face language, financial, social, emotional, and academic barriers to college success.

According to a recent report from the National Commission on the High School Senior Year ("The Lost Opportunity of Senior Year," Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, 2001, www.woodrow.org), almost half of the 90 percent of college freshmen who expect to graduate from college had not taken the kind of rigorous or foundational college preparatory classes in high school that would help them succeed in reaching their goal. In fact, according to ACT (www.act.org), the attrition rate at the end of the first year of college averages 28 percent at public four-year IHEs, and 25 percent at private four-year institutions. At IHEs practicing open admissions, the attrition rate approaches 50 percent. Findings from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES, 2001; www.ed.gov) show the cumulative impact of low retention rates. Only 51 percent of students who began college in 1995-96 attained a degree or certificate six years later; 14 percent were still enrolled. Sixty percent of those who began college at four-year public IHEs attained their degree in six years, while 17 percent were still enrolled. At four-year private institutions, 73 percent had attained their degree, and 9 percent were still enrolled. What's more, the impact of the toss of students on peers and on institutional budgets is enormous. So, here's your retention challenge: How do you keep these students on campus and help them succeed? And, how do you make sure they're the right students in the first place?

TOWARD RETENTION SUCCESS

To move toward retention success, consider--during the admissions process and beyond--the following factors (in bold), which correlate directly with student success (below each factor):

Strong academic preparation

* Students will be prepared to succeed in the college curriculum

* Students will be less likely to need remedial assistance

Commitment to the IHE and to personal academic goals

* Students will identify with their alma mater

* Students will understand the importance of earning their degree in terms of academic and career aspirations

Interaction with faculty/students in and out of the classroom

* Students will learn from professors and peers, engaging in the intellectual "life of the mind" so touted at IHEs