college retention strategies Archives - Ruffalo Noel Levitz Blog: Higher Education Enrollment, Student Retention, and Student Success

How to increase retention and completion with a proven early-alert “trouble spotter” [Infographic]

October 12, 2017 by Dr. Mari Normyle, Asst. Vice President for Retention Solutions, RNL Leave a Comment

When new students enter your institution, what if you quickly flagged their support needs using a 20-minute online assessment that captured key noncognitive indicators for retention and completion? What could you do differently? See highlights from RNL’s 2017 National Freshman Motivation to Complete College Report:

More than 400 colleges and universities use the 100-item RNL College Student Inventory to drive their early identification and early intervention strategies so they can increase retention and completion. This proven, early-alert assessment quickly spots trouble—and identifies each student’s strengths—much earlier than most programs that are designed to flag at-risk students and sound off early alerts.

Example—how it works—a first-year named Sarah (not her real name)

With a 3.4 GPA in high school, first-year student Sarah didn’t appear to be at risk, but even before her classes began, Sarah’s advisor and student services team were alerted to a number of her motivational risks immediately following orientation when Sarah completed the RNL College Student Inventory, part of RNL Student Success.

Sarah’s top 3 requests (of 25 possible)
I would like to talk with a counselor about my general attitude toward school.
I would like some training to improve my reading skills.
I would like some help selecting an educational plan that will prepare me to get a good job.

In response, Sarah’s institution took appropriate steps to intervene to keep her on track to graduation.

Learn how to better serve each individual adult learner, traditional-age learner, and other groups

Using 20-minute assessments, your advisors and student services teams will be equipped to:

Move beyond mid-term appraisals and exit interviews.
Understand how to provide better, more individualized service from day one that connects with each incoming learner.
Learn what motivates each individual student and which services they are most receptive to.

Download a sample survey today

See a sample of the College Student Inventory (CSI) and learn how to improve your students’ success, increase retention, and raise graduation rates by utilizing the CSI.

Questions? Request a personal consultation to discuss your early-alert and intervention strategy with an expert from Ruffalo Noel Levitz.

How 3 campuses incrementally reached student retention rates of 80 to 90 percent

September 7, 2017 by Janene Panfil, Senior Vice President for Retention Solutions, RNL Leave a Comment

The fall term has now begun—is your institution doing anything differently this year to increase your student retention rates and help more students succeed? As classes begin, take a minute to compare the effectiveness of your existing student success programs and services with those of other institutions. While there is comfort and success in “the way we’ve always done it,” there may also be room to grow and become even one percent better.

Three award-winning programs for college student success

Three institutions from across the country received Lee Noel and Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Awards at the 2017 National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention, convened by Ruffalo Noel Levitz from July 26-28 in Denver, Colorado. These winning programs were all unique and tailored by student type, institution type, and available resources, and all of these programs pulled together data from multiple sources to anticipate students’ needs.

University of South Florida (Tampa, Florida): The university has a Student Success Case Management program to identify and serve at-risk students. This individualized and data-informed approach has helped USF raise student retention rates to 90 percent for the 2015 cohort and is on track to surpass the 70 percent six-year graduation rate later in 2017, which will unlock up to $15 million in performance-based funding. The individualization of the Student Success Case Management program is considered core to achieving this goal and broke a three-year performance plateau.
Walsh University (North Canton, Ohio): Walsh University employs a campuswide, student-centered program to connect students to key academic resources and social supports to ensure student success. The holistic, intentional approach relies on a collaborative culture across campus and has resulted in an overall student retention rate of 83 percent.
Southeast Technical Institute (Sioux Falls, South Dakota): Southeast Technical has developed a retention process called Cares to capture data about student needs and meet those needs directly via empowered employees or referral to specific retention programs. Outcomes include 84 percent persistence for the new student Seminar Course, 92 percent persistence for students meeting the Attendance Challenge, and 96 percent persistence for the JumpStart program.

What do these campuses have in common? They are all using student-specific, data-driven, individualized interventions and are empowering every department to engage with students and intervene personally, which includes a meaningful, one-on-one relationship with each student. These recognized programs demonstrate that colleges and universities can truly have an impact on the success of their students and serve as national models for others to use and build upon. Dr. Lee Noel captured this concept many years ago when he advised “give the student what they need, before they know they need it.” With the help of data and technology, the relationships at the core of these winning programs are informing the work caring individuals do to anticipate students’ needs and solve student success challenges.

Learn how these campuses raised their student retention rates during a free webinar

Register for a free webinar on September 27, 2017, to learn how these three institutions launched, nurtured, and grew their initiatives into effective retention programs.

Also, check out the Compendium of Retention Excellence Award Winners 1989-2017 (PDF), which summarizes each winner’s strategies and outcomes, and is indexed by institution type.

Best wishes for a successful 2017-18 academic year!

7 compelling facts that impact student retention and college completion [Infographic]

September 6, 2017 by Dr. Tim Culver, Vice President of Consulting Services, RNL Leave a Comment

What’s working on campuses?

Download a new student retention infographic from Ruffalo Noel Levitz to see seven highlighted facts from a new RNL benchmark report of effective practices for college student success, retention, and completion. The research is based on a June 2017 poll of campus officials.

Facts one and two from our student retention infographic

Download the full INFOGRAPHIC AND REPORT to see all the findings of this study focused on optimizing student success, retention, and college completion rates.

What’s included in the report

Effectiveness rankings for 30 management practices and 28 general strategies and tactics
Effectiveness ratings for 13 population-specific programs, such as programs for under-represented students and honor students
Quality ratings for three leadership practices, such as a committee and a written plan to guide efforts for student success/retention/completion

The ratings are provided separately for four-year private institutions, four-year public institutions, and two-year public institutions.

Download the full student retention INFOGRAPHIC AND REPORT.

Learn about RNL products to increase student success, retention, and college completion rates

RNL has long been a leader in helping campuses improve student success, retention, and completion rates. Our comprehensive Student Success portfolio provides comprehensive analytics, insights, and assessments for retention planning and student success interventions. You’ll see where to focus your effort for greater impact by connecting your data directly to improved student persistence.

Also, join us for a webinar on 2017 Retention Excellence Award Winners on Wednesday, September 27, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This webinar will highlight exceptional student retention programs used by several campuses across the U.S.

Do you have a “CAN Plan” to extend your enrollment marketing through college completion?

August 25, 2017 by Dr. Tim Culver, Vice President of Consulting Services, RNL Leave a Comment

For years, admissions and recruitment teams have developed marketing and communication plans to build demand, generate applications, and optimize yields. These plans ensure that key messages are sent out to provide students and their families with the information they need to make timely decisions along the enrollment pathway. But what happens after the student is enrolled and committed? Do you have a plan to extend this type of communication and relationship management through to college completion? Are you sending key messages at the right times to influence re-enrollment?

When I work with colleges and universities on their student success initiatives, I often recommend developing a post-enrollment communication flow to continue communicating with students and families to increase college completion. I like to call this a CAN Plan.

CAN stands for Congratulate, Alert and Nudge (CAN). A CAN Plan equips you to communicate persuasively with enrolled students as they attempt to persist in their classes, make progress, and re-enroll from term to term. Your plan should include many customized messages informed by pre-enrollment data and information you collect after students enroll.

How to build a well-designed CAN Plan to influence students to re-enroll

Just as you customize messages for prospective students, you must also customize messages for enrolled students. Let me share three examples of ways to do this. Here is the first way:

This attrition curve clusters students into three groups based on a statistical analysis of each student’s likelihood to retain, drawn from pre-enrollment data. You can use the pre-enrollment information to target messaging to nudge incoming students to take advantage of student services and refer them to resources that satisfy their needs. I recommend sending more and different messages for students in the middle of your curve (about two-thirds of your new students) versus students who are already likely to retain (about 20 percent of your population) based on your analysis.

[Read more…]

How graduation ceremonies can motivate students to complete college and give back

July 20, 2017 by Julie Bryant, Associate Vice President for Retention Solutions, RNL Leave a Comment

My daughter, Kylie, graduated from a private, liberal arts college in Iowa this spring. I experienced her graduation ceremony both as a proud parent and as a higher education professional, observing what the college did right in celebrating the class of 2017.

You may have been following along on my parental observations over the past five years as Kylie visited potential colleges, went through orientation and arrived on campus, reflected on her freshman and sophomore years, and began her senior year.

Since I manage the Satisfaction-Priorities Surveys for Ruffalo Noel Levitz, the keynote speaker at my daughter’s graduation ceremony was definitely speaking my language when he told students he hoped they were satisfied with their experience! (Yes, he really said that, and my ears perked up!) As they left the college, he wanted them to feel that their investment of time and tuition had been worthwhile. (I would definitely echo that from the national data perspective, and further point out that a 2015 study indicated that institutions with higher satisfaction levels also have higher alumni giving). But the speaker also said he hoped the students were dissatisfied enough with the world around them that they would want to find what they were passionate about and make a change in something that matters. (This fits with how I advise institutions to improve the college experience for students in areas that matter: areas with high importance and low satisfaction to the student body).

What did they celebrate during the graduation ceremony?

A few observations on how the speakers motivated the audience toward college completion and giving back to the college:

The president acknowledged first-generation students and their families for blazing the trail and persevering. She also had legacy students stand and be recognized. There was one student who was a fifth-generation legacy, along with several who were fourth- and third-generation students. I was impressed with the strong family commitments to the college, but can you imagine the expectations those students felt to continue the family tradition?
The college’s young alumni award was presented during the graduation ceremony. (My alma mater presents it during homecoming.) By acknowledging the young alumni during graduation, it encouraged today’s graduates—and their younger peers in the audience—to see what they can accomplish within ten years after graduation. These young alumni stories were an inspiration and a validation of what can be done with a degree from the college.
As part of the Senior Giving Campaign, students who pledged to give back to the college were given a cord to wear with their cap and gown as a visible acknowledgment of their commitment. Kylie commented that she heard several classmates signed up because they wanted some “bling” for the gown, and the Senior Giving commitment was up 10% to 60% with this first year of the graduation cord offer.

Are you implementing acknowledgments like these during your graduation ceremony? Are there additional ways you can motivate students toward completion and celebrate students who blazed a trail or continued a legacy? How else can you reinforce the value of the tuition to the students and their families so they will continue to feel positive about your college? And what is going to motivate your new alumni to stay engaged with your institution as they move on to the next phase of their lives? [Read more…]