‘Relentless Curiosity’ Recommended in Evaluating Student-Retention Efforts
Student-retention expert Lana Low doesn’t define retention as merely the percentage of freshman students who return for their sophomore year of college. She views retention as a journey during which college and university administrators must ask many questions.
“You have to develop a relentless curiosity about whether you’re making progress, and if you’re not, you need to ask why not,” she told attendees at the recent USA Funds® Symposium “Pursuing Excellence in Student Preparation, Access and Success.”
“When you look at one number, for example an 80-percent retention rate, that number doesn’t tell you how you are doing with minority students, honors students or adult learners,” she says. Low made her presentation to about 160 administrators, faculty and student-services and financial-aid professionals representing minority-serving institutions including Tribal Colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
Nationwide about one-third of all first-year students enrolled in the fall semester do not return to the same institutions the following fall. And barely six of 10 first-time, full-time degree-seeking freshmen graduate within six years.
Low recalled a time when she worked with 25 honor students in a freshman-seminar setting. “I knew my success with these 25 honor students depended on my knowing each individual in the group and being responsive to their individual needs as well as group needs,” she said.
One student, who had a 4.0 grade-point average in high school, earned a 2.5 GPA her first term. “I knew she was at risk,” Low said. Another student, a chemistry major, came from a small high school and was afraid to talk with his professor about a grade he had received.
“There are no two students who come to college with the same needs,” Low said. “They have different backgrounds, academic preparation and characteristics. And it can be one characteristic that makes all the difference.”
Identifying students at risk
To get started, Low recommended that institutions mine their data to find the students or groups of students who are at risk. Think of this process as using a funnel, she said. “At the top of the funnel you have the campus-wide retention rate. Keep going down the funnel to find out who’s at risk on your campus.”
Then identify strategies to use with those at-risk students. Low noted that it’s important to consider how to link data to retention strategies before any strategies are implemented.
“Define the kinds of changes you want to see — a change in GPA, class attendance, number of students engaged in co-curricular activities,” she said, noting that administrators can compare their expectations with what happens to determine whether the strategy had an impact.
“You’ve got to measure, measure, measure,” Low said.
If the strategies are working, proceed as planned, she said. But if they are not working, stop and analyze what’s not working and make adjustments before moving on.
Evaluating retention success
Low suggested that institutions ask themselves the following questions:
- Were the outcomes measurable?
- Did the institution have baseline data?
- Did the outcomes reflect progress or lack of progress?
- What did school officials learn that they didn’t know before?
- Are changes needed?
- What’s next?
When schools’ strategies are successful, they should celebrate, she said. “It’s important for schools to celebrate even the small successes. You need to recognize and reward your champions — the people helping you achieve your goals.”
Low urged attendees to continually rethink their student-retention strategies at their institutions. “If you look at retention as a continuous journey that requires changes over time, it will become part of the fabric of your institution.”
PowerPoint presentations and handouts used in the symposium sessions are available on USA Funds’ Web site.