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Journal of College Student Retention and Recruiting for both On-Campus and Online Universities
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As director of academic retention at the University of Alabama, Dr. Jennifer Jones is tasked with assisting incoming freshman in making a successful transition from high school to college. Dr. Jones evaluates student retention data, both historical and real-time, to identify students who are at risk of attrition due to academic difficulties and she creates, implements and manages appropriate support programs for first year students struggling to acclimate to campus life.
A recent presenter at the inaugural National Dialog on Student Retention Conference, she instructed attendees in the areas of goals, data, internal buy-in and support, metrics and action plans as they pertain to retention 2.0 programs. In the following interview, Dr. Jones shares her insights on the current landscape of retention in higher education.
Q: Can you describe the current retention landscape in higher education?
Dr. Jennifer Jones:
The conversation about retention has been in research and literature for decades, however, it seems in that the audience has broadened and the practical application of the research has recently come to the forefront of the retention conversation. In my opinion, the emergence of retention as an area of concern can be attributed to two reasons; accountability and resources. 1) The federal government’s conversation about accountability in higher education is sending some folks scrambling. Federal financial aid and state appropriations are at risk if institutions cannot demonstrate clearly define learning outcomes and show improved retention and graduation rates. This debate has serious philosophical differences. It seems that certain outside constituencies feel as though students should graduate at all costs while some in higher ed feel inclined to help those students that are investing time and energy into persistence. 2) Resources are also emerging as a key consideration in the retention landscape. It comes down to cost, and people are finally realizing that it costs more to recruit a new students than it does to retain a current student.
How to Identify Successful Online Learners
The topic of retention continues to gain interest across the fields of higher education. One major issue to consider is determining whether students are ready for the challenge ahead. At one end of the retention spectrum are the highly competitive professional programs, such as medical and law schools, which are fueled by a very selective admissions processes wherein as many as 90% of the students who start will graduate. On the other end of the spectrum are part-time online programs whose admissions processes boil down to more of a qualification and whose graduation rates often dip into single digits.
Preliminary survey results from the National Dialog on Student Retention, academic preparedness is one major reason for students leaving programs. As discussed in an earlier column, program quality is another.
Online student retention rates are significantly lower than their on-campus equivalents. With record numbers of students studying online, it is imperative that we discover why online learners have a significantly lower rate of persistence than on-campus students. One recent estimate has 3.5 million students taking an online course. That translates to 20 percent of all students in U.S. higher education and, while these programs appeal to a growing number of students, we need to consider whether students are best served through this medium.
To discover what makes for a successful online student, we contacted eLearners.com has also created an external community to support current online students and has mobilized this community to help prospective online students.
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The National Dialog on Student Retention is only beginning
The ongoing National Dialog on Student Retention took a big step forward with a day and a half conference in Atlanta on June 2 and 3. The conference brought together 150 people with an interest in improving student retention across higher education. Keynote speaker George Kuh commented that student retention and attrition are the most studied aspect of the college experience. There are huge amounts of data available, and as George stated, “it is ironic how a company like EducationDynamics is needed to bring us together to discuss it.”
To learn more about the conference please visit the NDSR web page
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