Student Retention Begins Long Before the Student Gets to School

As featured on  www.careereducationreview.net
By John King, Ed.D., Independent Education Consultant

In today’s age of gainful employment, emphasis on student outcomes and increased governmental and regulatory scrutiny, keeping students in school and progressing to graduation is more important than ever. Colleges are investing more time and resources to keep students engaged and satisfactorily progressing as new student enrollments get harder and harder to secure. As new student starts decrease, keeping revenue flow through retention becomes critical if a school is to remain viable and profitable. Of course, student retention, aside from the revenue and profit perspective, is critical because the overall success of any career school lies in how many of its students it can graduate and get placed in successful career positions. 

In the past, I led a team that successfully developed a systematic student retention program that concentrated on a series of academic and student services focused on engaging students and supporting both the academic and life issues that students faced. This program, integrated throughout the student life cycle produced dramatic improvements in student retention, graduation and student satisfaction. Since leaving that organization I have been refining that system with the intent on expanding its reach and solving some of the other retention issues that schools face.