Where Have All of the Students Gone? Examining Student Retention at a Small Liberal Arts College

Abstract

As colleges and universities continue to face increasing competition and higher student acquisition costs, it has become imperative that these organizations focus on retaining students and closely monitor their retention rates. This paper reports on one college’s use of the marketing research model to address a lower than expected retention rate. A classic marketing research model is utilized to generate information. This survey revealed that there are many controllable issues that schools can change to increase retention. However, there are also some factors over which a school may have little control, or would require a long term strategy to address.