What is Student Retention?
Student retention metrics dictate success and sustainability for modern higher ed institutions. Measuring the number of students who stay enrolled over time, retention provides crucial, quantifiable insights into student success. Across higher ed, retention data paints a powerful picture: 43 million students in the US have some college credit but no credential, meaning they have yet to see a return on their financial investment.
While alternate pathways such as stackable credentials and certificates hold value, the college degree remains a key stepping stone to economic mobility. But one in four students don’t complete a degree at their first institution, and nearly 29% of students who entered college in the fall of 2017 at a four-year public institution did not return to that institution for a second year. The impact to students — and to institutions — is far reaching.
Why Does Student Retention Matter?
Poor retention rates prove costly for institutions, which lose out on tuition and fee revenue from students when they stop out. As higher ed enrollment continues to decline, retaining students serves as a crucial lever to maintain tuition revenue. When students drop out of college before completing their degree, they’re often left with student loan debt, and they’re much less likely to return to school to finish — leaving career advancement out of reach.
How should institutions improve student retention? By streamlining digital experiences, increasing student engagement and fostering a sense of belonging, institutions better support students, keeping them enrolled and on the path to graduation. These efforts benefit institutions too — those who adapt and build sustainable strategies will thrive in the changing higher ed landscape.
Who is Responsible for Student Retention?
While retention used to be an academic affairs issue, it now encompasses every part of the institution. Students don’t just drop out for academic reasons: finances, community, digital systems, and personal barriers all play a role in student retention and success.
When departments come together to prioritize holistic success, everyone benefits. Higher ed often struggles to break down its own silos, but student success requires collaboration. Pima Community College collaborated across 27 different departments to streamline student experience and boost student success with MyPima, their centralized digital hub. With a shared understanding of the challenges, and a shared vision for success, innovative universities can tackle the retention problem.
Why Students Drop Out
Financial struggles, lack of belonging, work and family demands, and confusing systems remain key factors preventing students from continuing and completing their degree. The typical student is no longer a full-time, residential 18-year-old. Imagine a working mom attending classes after her full-time job, or a first-gen college student struggling to navigate confusing systems. A missed registration deadline or a lack of connection to community can have significant consequences When students take a term off, only 13% re-enroll in the next five years. And if students do return, they navigate complex transfer processes which require hunting for academic and financial information. So what can institutions do to support students and increase retention?
How to Support Student Success
Institutions already offer a wealth of resources and tools to support students and increase retention rates. The key lies in amplifying access to those resources.
Building holistic support systems acts as an important first step in a successful retention strategy. Students navigate a myriad of tools, systems and tasks — both on-campus and digitally. While an institution might offer plenty of resources, the gap often lies in students’ awareness they even exist. By building networks of support, institutions proactively support students, dramatically reducing the risk of dropping out.
1. Simplify Digital Systems and Increase Access to Resources
Utilizing a centralized hub for information ensures students know where to access critical tools and information. Rather than searching a public website, adopting a robust Engagement Hub allows students to see tasks, schedule appointments and connect with peers and professors all in one place. Many institutions offer robust tutoring and mentorship programs, but how easy are they to find? Does a student have to search through hundreds of emails or find the right office on campus to locate help?
“I think most institutions have this problem where they have systems sprawled. We have tons of things students need to do and they’re happening in these systems across campus. What we need is something that unifies them and brings them together and displays them in a way that looks like it’s one thing,” explained Loren Malm, VP and CIO of Information Technology at Ball State University. Centralizing resources makes it clear and simple to locate answers and seek help.
2. Engage Students Early
Student engagement starts long before students begin their first class. From the day they receive their acceptance letter, students need to understand the key steps to enroll and succeed. Institutions should use tools like a new student checklist to guide admitted students through their next steps. When students don’t know where to find important information, they are more likely to get stuck. Ensuring students know how to contact and make an appointment with their advisor smooths the enrollment and registration process.
Once they’ve enrolled, orientation is a crucial opportunity to connect students with one another and teach them how to navigate college. Consider offering opportunities for students to meet one another before they arrive on campus or begin orientation, using a secure digital communication platform.
3. Data-Driven Intervention
Monitoring key indicators of student success such as attendance, task completion and test scores gives institutions early insight into how students progress. Use success data to trigger early alerts and flag at-risk students for additional support. For instance, tracking who checks pertinent messages, registers for events or participates in community feeds provides valuable insight into who might need additional support.
Institutions house an incredible amount of data through the SIS, LMS and other systems, but it often lives in silos, spread across different systems and departments. Consolidating and unifying systems through a Campus Experience Platform enables a more holistic approach to intervention.
4. Personalize Outreach
Traditional email blasts fail to truly engage their audience, and when students receive a flood of communications that don’t apply to them, they might tune out. One advisor at St. Petersburg College saw a 65% increase in future-term enrollments after implementing advising groups with timely updates and targeted messages. Personalize experiences and communications throughout a student’s journey — from admissions and enrollment through graduation. Surface and promote relevant resources and focus on targeted communications rather than generic messages.
5. Foster Community and Belonging
Belonging predicts better persistence, engagement, and mental health at four-year institutions, and understanding students’ sense of belonging offers institutions a powerful opportunity to increase retention. Create awareness around events, groups and clubs early and often in a student’s journey. Promote groups which focus on first-gen, online and transfer students to ensure the community receives support for their specific experiences. Technology should enable connection — not distract from it. Utilize digital tools to point students toward opportunities to connect and engage.
6. Connect with Parents and Families
When students have a solid network of support, their likelihood of reaching graduation increases. The campus experience plays a huge role in their success, but many students’ network extends beyond the institution — and often includes parents and families. Engage loved ones with relevant information and timely updates. Emails are easy to miss — surface deadlines, checklists and events through a personalized dashboard with targeted notifications, aligned with student and institutional preferences.
Higher ed stands at a pivotal moment, with demographic shifts, budgetary pressures and a decline in trust reshaping the industry. These challenges offer a powerful catalyst for change. Institutions that prioritize student retention through modern, personalized student engagement strategies will not just endure the challenges — they will transform their campus experience.
Ready to invest in student success? Reach out today.