Student Retention Strategy | |
Are you looking to increase enrollment at your
higher education institution? Increase student retention and graduation
rates? Do you want to improve student satisfaction? Would you like to
avoid the high costs associated with attrition?
Forward Analytics provides marketing research
and strategic planning to higher education institutions. Our
full-service consulting firm offers an integrated approach to help you
unlock timely answers to the type of questions raised above.
We offer custom research capable of targeting the
entire student lifecycle, from pre-matriculation to post-graduation. Our
research helps you build a successful marketing strategy that identifies
the key behaviors related to choosing a school and staying at a school. We
also provide measurement of student satisfaction to retain your
current students as well as help you identify the values needed to attract
new students. Once in place this strategy directly impacts your
institutions' bottom line.
There are many factors that have been found to
influence student retention and to be strongly associated with student
persistence. These factors include initial student commitments, student
characteristics, peer support, involvement in the institution's academic
life, and frequency and quality of faculty-student interaction. With an
increased understanding of why some students persist and others do not,
strategies for improving college student retention can be devised to
enable more students to succeed in reaching their educational goals.
Individuals as well as institutions benefit from finding ways to
improve student retention. A closer examination of these variables
shows that their influence on student retention varies substantially among
institutions. Practices that have increased student persistence at one
institution cannot be automatically applied at other institutions.
Measurements that Return Bottom Line ResultsForward Analytics conducts on-going survey
research (quarterly, biannually), measuring student satisfaction,
attitudes and behaviors. Our freshman retention study begins
immediately after matriculation and track needs and satisfaction
throughout the critical first year. Our research measures determine which
factors in the organization correlate to student persistence or
withdrawal.
Beyond the freshman year, administrators need to
continue to investigate the specific, unique factors influencing retention
at their higher education institution and to analyze the specific
qualities and characteristics of their own students. The most beneficial
and effective retention programs are those that are developed over time
and are based on coordinated activities of continuous research,
evaluation, and policy development.
There are three general levels of retention
efforts that both institutions and students can employ: the student level,
the institutional level, and the community level. At the student level
students must be challenged to develop both academic and non-academic
skills that they need for college. At the institutional level teachers and
administrators need to participate in behaviors that facilitate
persistence and program completion. In addition, institutions must make
commitments to students by providing financial assistance. The community
level incorporates businesses, which form partnerships with colleges in
order to assist at-risk students.
Example Studies of Student Retention, Satisfaction, and Attrition ResearchMany higher education institutions use multiple
strategies to increase student retention rates. Multiple strategies might
include combining orientation programs, mentoring programs, and faculty
training. Allegheny Community College proposed a multiple strategy to
improve retention. Activities included establishing a women's center,
conducting freshman seminars to promote relationships among students and
faculty, creating college funded work-study programs for on-campus
employment, beginning faculty development programs, and creating
additional student organizations.
Non-Returning Student Survey. This Survey
is essential in determining which factors determine withdrawal. Mail,
telephone, or online surveys are conducted in order to obtain extensive
quantitative and qualitative data from non-returning students. The survey
asked respondents to cite all of their reasons for not continuing at ACC,
their most important reason for not returning, and whether their main
reason for not returning was either permanent or temporary.
Some of the respondents indicated "personal
reasons" for not returning to ACC such as a lack of connection to the
College or feeling "invisible" on campus. These are reasons the College
can address through retention strategies that help integrate students both
academically and socially at the College.
Online Marketing Technology for Student Retention and SatisfactionForward Analytics' online surveys and email
templates can help provide measurable and efficient communications in
support of your retention strategy. We design and deliver customized email
messages to aid student awareness and create an open and ongoing dialog.
Through the use of database queries, we can serve custom templates do
different audiences (i.e., non-traditional students, high GPA students, or
scholarship students.) Our ability to segment your student population and
send personalized HTML or rich media messages combined with immediate
feedback from online survey techniques make Forward Analytics' student
retention services a valuable and cost-effective solution to understand
attrition and maintain class enrollment. As an example, please take our online
survey.
Pre-Matriculation Student QuestionnaireForward Analytics conducts market research to
determine a current measure of brand awareness, image and perceived value
relating to your higher education institution and its programs and
services. See Higher Education Research for a detailed explanation.
By employing a Pre-Matriculation Student
Questionnaire, our research will determine the following:
Forward Analytics' research provides the
information necessary for your higher education institution to make
informed strategic business decisions right down to individual market
segments. Our student retention studies and college satisfaction surveys
provide both a quantitative and qualitative framework on which to build a
solid marketing and communications strategy. Not only will these products
have an immediate impact on your bottom line, but also will ensure a
confident and accurate message moving forward.
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Growth and retention are the keys to economic prosperity for all
higher education institutions. In support of these goals, we can deliver: Success Benchmarks Decision Attributes Perceived weaknesses Online/offline surveys Pre-martriculation needs Post-graduate opinions |
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