The numbers won’t be official until Feb. 1, but according to President Kent Chabotar, Guilford retained 92 percent of the 2009 first-year cohort from fall 2009 to spring 2010. The year before (fall ’08 to spring ’09), the retention rate was 95 percent. Barbara Boyette, the assistant academic dean for advising and academic support, says that the school is working to retain more students.
“We had great success last year,” she said. “First- to second-year retention rates, from the fall of 2008 to the fall of 2009 were at 80 percent, which is fabulous. That’s our institutional goal, that we’re able to continue that retention rate.”
Boyette’s statement that 80 percent is the institutional goal is consistent with the retention rate goal identified in the Strategic Long Range Plan.
“What happened last year is unfathomable. It just doesn’t happen,” said Aaron Fetrow, vice president of student affairs and dean of students. “We did a lot of things to make that happen. We added hall directors, we added the mentor program, there was selectivity on Randy’s part, where we recruited from, you know, all kinds of things.”
Fetrow also stated that determining which of these approaches was most effective is difficult.
The school’s retention rate this fall to spring was about 3 percent less than last years’ fall-to-spring rate. The 2009 first-year class began with 448 students, so the 8 percent loss would mean that about 36 first-year students did not return this spring as opposed to about 21 students lost the previous spring from the 2008 first-year cohort of 405 students.
It is difficult to determine the reason for this year’s three percent loss difference ratio to last years.
“We had been at about 70 percent (in previous years),” said Fetrow. “Classes were at about 420, 430, 440. Then we dropped downto 406 (first-year students in 2008) and our retention went up to 80 percent.”
Fetrow said that now we have 448 first-years but since the retention numbers are not official yet, we will have to wait to see if the number remains as high. “We retained a small class better,” said Fetrow. “And that’s always been my argument. That the last 30 or 40 (students) you accept might be the ones who don’t stay. That seems like logic, to me – late accepts, those on the waiting list.”
Why do retention rates matter?
Both retention and persistence rates are important measurements at tuition-driven institutions such as Guilford where, according to Randy Doss, vice president of enrollment services, currently 88 percent of the school’s income is tuition-based. When students withdraw from the College, that income is lost.
Both measurements clearly have financial implications in terms of tuition, but to those outside of the college, retention rates are more significant. The federal government requires that retention be calculated and use those rates to determine financial aid.
Another reason for the importance of retention rates, according to Fetrow, is that a big part of how the U.S. news magazine ranks colleges is based on retention.
“They look at retention rates of a school to see how good of a school you are,” said Fetrow.
However, because persistence measurements encompass the whole of the student body, it is the more holistic approach for the college to measure the student body from year to year.
“Without persistence you can’t have retention,” said Fetrow. “(Administrators) budget for a 91 percent persistence total. This number was reiterated by the Strategic Long Range Plan. If persistence falls short of that goal, budgeting becomes more difficult.”
“If they (students) don’t come back in the spring, they’re probably not coming back in the fall,” said Fetrow. “We watch persistence as an indicator. And then going forward, it’s an indicator of graduation rates.”
Members of the student body who contribute to persistence but not to retention also do not contribute to the school’s graduation rates. Therefore, transfer students who graduate don’t contribute to graduation rates.
In high school, your class is referred to by the year you are scheduled to graduate. In college it is referred to by the year you were an incoming freshman.
“The graduation rate for a cohort is measured at the four-year mark, the five-year mark, and the six year mark. The six-year mark has become more the standard nationally,” said Fetrow. Members of a given cohort who graduate in five years can still raise the graduation rates for their class.
Is the increase in retention sustainable?
According to Fetrow, we are unsure whether this increase of about 10 percent is sustainable because it has only occurred once; however, the college managed to retain 92 percent of the ’09 first-year cohort from fall ’09 to spring ’10, which suggests that the high retention rates will persist.
“Of course, your fall to spring retention rate will be higher than your fall to fall retention rate,” said Thomas Coaxum, former director of institutional research and assessment.
Numerous reasons explain why a student might leave Guilford, and since the recent retention rate increase is new and possibly fragile, a continued focus on the reasons behind retention loss is relevant.
“Do you know the number one reason that students give for not returning?” said Kent Grumbles, the new director of institutional research and assessment. “It’s financial, all over the country. But sometimes, students will say it’s financial, when sometimes it’s something else.
According to Grumbles, personal reasons are the second most commonly given for not returning, “But, in almost all cases, students continue on. A very high percentage goes to another school, they don’t drop out,” said Grumbles.