The freshman drop out rate is an issue facing colleges across the country. The retention rates between a student’s freshman and sophomore is the lowest of the rates for the four years of college. The more selective a college is, the higher the retention rate. So a private school is likely to have a much higher rate than a four year college and a college such as Harvard will also have higher retention rates. The three main reasons for such a high attrition rate for freshman students is money, academic struggles and the expectations of the student are not met.
There is a generic national study given to freshman students called the “Nessie”. The Nessie asks questions like:
How often was electronic medium to discuss or complete an assignment? (never, seldom, somewhat,
often, always)
What was the quality of relationships with faculty members? (scale of 1 to 7 or helpfulness)
If you were to start college over again, would you choose this institution?
I am not sure how one could assess why freshmen are not returning based on questions like this! These questions do not seem to be helpful nor do they seem to give any reasons why a student might not return the following year.
“How College Affects Students” is book written by Terenzini, a professor of Higher Education at Penn State and Pascarella, a co-director of the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education at the University of Iowa. These authors did a study at 19 liberal art schools gathering background information of freshman students, their experiences, and recorded their outcomes after the 1st and 4th years. They did student appraisals of teacher organization of material, how effectively the instructor utilized class time, reviewed the subject matter, etc. “Good teaching is not defined by test results” according the a recent article “What Spurs Students to Stay in College and Learn.” Their study found that their was a 30% increase in returns for students that experience good teaching practices.
I feel like this information is common sense but I am thankful that this information is documented. I would also think that the students that have the better social experiences also return at a higher rate. Meaning that if the student feels more involved with the school and has been socially successful, the retention rates would also be higher for such students. But I also feel that some of this is up to the individual student, too. And according to Pascarella and Terenzini, “because individual efforts and involvement are the critical determinants of impact, institutions should focus on the ways they can shape their academic, interpersonal, and extracurricular offerings to encourage student engagement."
I love this topic and would love to spend a long time figuring out why retention rates are where they are. http://www.colorado.edu/pba/records/gradrt/acprep.htm THis site states how CU freshmen from 1997-1999 graduated from CU within 6 years at a retention rate of 66%.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/index.php?submeasure=224&year=2009&level=nation&mode=graph&state=0 This site shows that the US average retention rate of freshmen just to their second year (not all they way through) is 76%. I thought that number was really high, but also a great sign that people were not changing schools as much as I thought. The focus did not include Community Colleges for this particular study. The private colleges like Duke, UVA, Harvard, etc. where at a 99% retention rate, just the for record.
One thing that has always struck me as worth discussing in relation to this issue is the way we as humans assign value according to cost. The old expression "nothing worth having in life ever came free" is - to me - something worth exploring. If people get something for free there is a tendancy to think it not worth much. It may be helpful, useful, asthetically pleasing - but if we got it for free do we preceive its value to be lower? With student loan forgiveness and very accommodating policies on Federal Student Aid - are we setting the bar for subjective devaluation of education? A scholarship is somewhat different as the recipient, in many cases, had to work to meet certain criteria. This reinforces the notion that "hardwork pays off." But if we don't have to work hard for something, if we don't make sacrifices to achieve or acquire don't we tend to devalue what we end up with? (note to self: add to research to-do list)
ReplyDelete-David Dorr
The issue of retention at institutions of higher education is incredibly complicated - institutions have been examining this issue and trying to improve retention rates for decades. I think the first issue is that retention varies by institutional type - in a BIG way. Students enrolled at selective private institutions are retained at incredibly high rates - it's a no brainer - these students are highly prepared academically - are generally in a position to pay for their education and generally possess demographic characteristics that are priveleged in higher education. Retention rates simply go down from there - down to community colleges which are open access institutions and generally have very low retention rates.
ReplyDeleteRetention work requires critically examing the teaching and learning process, the intended and unintended barriers created by our systems and processes in higher edcuation as well as the students themselves. It is not as simple as "programming" our way to greater student success - the entire institution must be involved in examining data on who is successful and who is not - the kinds of classes that students tend to struggl - course taking patterns - financial aid related to student success etc.
For me instruments such as the NSSE and the CSSE offer institutions insight about how engaged their students are in the classroom and outside of the classroom - both important considerations when talking about student retention.
My final thought is that we would be better served to talk about student success and learning as our institutional priorities rather than retention - I would contend that retention is the product of doing a superior job fostering student success and learning.
I want us all to be mindful as we categorize what kind of person is most likely to attend a private small liberal arts college. From my experience, yes-affluent students are more likely to attend because of the costs involved. This does not mean that small privates do not try hard to recruit and support students with financial need. And just because there is money does not mean all problems and issues go away. Yes, money can make things less complicated, but it is not the magic wand.
ReplyDeleteIn spring 2012, CSU will be asking students to complete the NSSE. Engagement (E part of NSSE) is a huge component of students remaining on campus. It may seem like a no brainer for all of us pursuing a degree in higher education, for students I am not sure they get it. In the midst of selecting, packing, and finally moving to college for the first time-I am not sure students are thinking about how to get involved. Arriving to a 10x10 and rooming with someone they have never met may be more about what they are wondering about instead. I do think it is important that the NSSE is utilized and more regularly for each campus. One thing that the NSSE could do more to support is not just looking at first year and senior students. We miss out on supporting and learning more about students during their second or third year. I would be interested in analyzing this data over the 4 years versus the first and last. Plus the NSSE does not know if the student they surveyed in their first year is completing the survey in their senior year. Accessibility to first year students, a good majority at CSU who live on-campus, makes it easy to sample the population. This is very different for senior students who usually live off campus.