New Study Looks at Retention in Community Colleges
Community colleges must create an environment that is nurturing, friendly and easy to navigate to retain a greater percentage of their students, according to the Survey of Entering Student Engagement.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
The “New study” sounds interesting. If available, a link to the study on-line would be appreciated.
Thanks,
March 26th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Hi Bob,
SENSE’s website is www.enteringstudent.org.
Thanks for your interest.
- Sandra
CCSSE/SENSE
March 26th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
We have in recent years moved away from individual advisors to a Transfer Advising Center. Technical curricula still offer more specific student/advisor relationships; however, transfer students are funneled through the Advising Center where they may see a different advisor each time they come through. Have you found this Advising Center set-up to be problematic? Is there specific data to show that low retention rates apply more to either technical or transfer curricula?
March 27th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I would also like to know if you have specific data which would apply to technical vs transfer students. We want to continue to use faculty advisors, but add an Advising Center. Advising is certainly a key to student retention, and all of us need to do more to get students to advisors more often, and sooner.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Friendly, nurturing environments are beneficial institutional characteristics, to be sure. After visiting enteringstudent.org, I went to CCCSE’s site to view the actual results of the ACT study on attrition. I copied one question and result below. It is an excellent reminder that any tools we can offer will not replace the student’s willingness to make college success a priority in terms of time and effort. (I included the citation. Every college instructor needs to read the results of this study).
12. Are institutional characteristics (financial aid/student employment opportunities) or student characteristics (financial resources/study skills) more likely to attribute to attrition?
A. Institutional Characteristics
B. Student Characteristics
Answer: B. Of 24 institutional characteristics contributing to attrition, respondents of a survey by ACT, Inc. at two-year public colleges identified only two factors that made a moderate or higher contribution to attrition: amount of financial aid available to students and student employment opportunities. Of 20 student characteristics contributing to attrition respondents identified 15 factors that made a moderate or higher contribution. Student characteristics cited as having the greatest impact were inadequate preparation for college, lack of motivation to succeed, inadequate financial resources, poor study skills, too many job demands, and too many family demands.
Source: Habley, Wesley R. and McClanahan, Randy. (2004). What Works in Student Retention? — Two-Year Public Colleges. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from ACT, Inc. Web site: http://www.act.org/path/postsec/droptables/pdf/TwoYearPublic.pdf