Many Colleges Could Do More
to Help Students Stay in School

“Retention of students remains a significant issue for U.S. colleges and universities—a substantial number of students do not return for their second year of school,” said Richard L. Ferguson, ACT's chief executive officer and chairman of the board. “Our findings suggest colleges can do more to reduce dropout rates.”

The results of a survey of officials at more than 1,000 two-year and four-year colleges and universities reveal that an alarming number of schools have no specific plan or goals in place to improve retention and degree completion rates. The findings of the research report What Works in Student Retention? also suggest that colleges tend to put the blame for dropping out primarily on students, rather than on themselves.

Data collected by ACT show that up to one-fourth of all students at four-year colleges do not return for their second year of school. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, dropout rates are particularly high for African American and Hispanic students. Other student populations at greater risk of dropping out include those who are the first in their family to attend college, those who have limited English proficiency, and nontraditional students such as returning adults.

Academic readiness is a key factor in college retention, as students who are well prepared for college coursework are more likely to stay in school than those who aren't. A new ACT policy report, however, indicates that academic ability alone is not enough to keep many students in school. The Role of Academic and Non-Academic Factors in Improving College Retention, an exhaustive review of existing research on retention and persistence, suggests many students also need individual support to feel connected to the campus community.

Both reports identify a number of specific practices that appear to be highly effective in increasing student retention. These include such social integration practices as extended orientation courses, multicultural centers, and big brother/big sister and faculty mentor programs; such academic advising practices as advising centers and interventions with potentially at-risk students; and such learning support practices as learning assistance centers, supplemental instruction, and remedial coursework.

ACT recommends that colleges create a structured, comprehensive retention program geared to help students as they make the transition to college life. Specifically, ACT suggests colleges:

• Designate a senior-level individual on campus to coordinate retention activities.
• Analyze student characteristics and needs and then implement a formal retention program that best meets those needs and the needs of the institution.
• Take an integrated approach to retention efforts that incorporates both academic and non-academic factors.
• Implement an early-alert assessment and monitoring system to identify students at risk of dropping out.

“Student retention is everyone's business on a college campus,” said Eric White, executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies at Penn State University and president of the National Academic Advising Association.

“A thoroughly integrated and coordinated approach needs to be taken to ensure success.”

But many colleges, according to the survey results, have not yet made retention efforts a high priority. Fewer than half (47 percent) of all college officials responding to the survey say they have established a goal for improved retention of first-year students, and only a third (33 percent) say they have established a goal for improved degree completion. In addition, just about half (52 percent) say they have staff responsible for coordinating retention strategies.

“If we take the view that institutions appoint individuals to exercise clear-cut authority and leadership for the most valued organizational functions and tasks, then the fact that only half of our colleges have appointed a retention coordinator is a disturbing indicator,” said John Gardner, executive director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College and senior fellow at the National Resource Center on the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

The findings also suggest colleges are more likely to blame students than their own practices for high dropout rates. When given lists of both student and institution characteristics that might affect a decision to drop out, college officials identified 13 student characteristics, including lack of motivation, inadequate preparation, inadequate financial resources and poor study skills, that they felt significantly contribute to student attrition. In contrast, respondents identified only two institutional characteristics (amount of financial aid available and student-institution fit) as having a significant impact on attrition.

“It is quite troubling that, in spite of all we know from three decades of research on student retention, colleges are still inclined to hold students largely responsible for their retention, while dramatically minimizing the institutional role in this problem,” said Gardner.

Download the reports:

• What Works in Student Retention?
• The Role of Academic and Non-Academic Factors in Improving College Retention