2010 PASFAA Conference MONDAY OCTOBER 10 TH 2010

1. 2010 PASFAA ConferenceMONDAY OCTOBER 10TH 2010

2. Retention – Why??? Dr. James Theeuwes Director Student Financial Services Lock Haven University

3. When a Product Fails • Dell, the world's largest personal computer maker, was forced to recall 4.1million notebook computer batteries because they could overheat and catch fire - the biggest recall in its history. • Apple Computer also recalled 1.8 million Sony notebook computer batteries for same reason as above. • Marvel recalled 175,0000 Curious George 12-inch plush dolls - a monkey with a plastic face – were in November 2007 due to the risk of lead exposure and poisoning. • IKEA, popular bargain furniture retailer recalled more than 500,000 sets of roller blinds in October 2009 because they posed a strangulation risk to small children.

4. When a Product Fails • Firestone recalled in August 20006.5 million tires produced at its Firestone US division following greater than average reports of incidents involving them • Mattel, the world's largest toymaker recalled more than 18million made-in-China toys in 2007 because of hazards from small, powerful magnets that can cause injury if swallowed The magnets were in Polly Pocket, Doggie Day and Batman toys. • Mattel recalled 1.5 million toys due to fears about lead paint. Nearly 50,000 die-cast Sarge cars - from the hit animated film Cars - were found to have "impermissible levels of lead

5. When a Product Fails • General Motors recalled close to one million Cadillac, Pontiac and Chevrolet cars because of fears the air bags may deploy by accident in 2002. • Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., announced that it will launch a voluntary Safety Recall involving approximately 600,000 first- and second-generation Sienna 2WD minivans sold in the United States to address potential corrosion in the spare tire carrier cable • Ford is recalling all remaining vehicles – approximately 4.5 million U.S. vehicles – equipped with Texas Instruments speed control deactivation switches. While the data show the majority of the vehicles being recalled do not pose a significant safety risk, we are recalling the vehicles to reassure customers and eliminate any future concerns. This recall affects older models, including discontinued vehicles.

6. When our Product Fails • 3,024,723 Freshmen Enrolled for Fall 2008 • 937,664 or 31% didn’t make it past their Freshmen Year Public resource cost: $5.85 billion ( using 2002 public support per FTE amount) • 1,935,823 or 64% will not graduate in at least 6 years. Public resource cost: $24.5 Billion • DO WE NEED A PRODUCT RECALL??????? • From: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_222.asp

7. When our Product Fails • In the past 20 years graduation rates at both public and private four –year institutions have declined (Habley & McClananhan, 2004). • The ‘gap’ in 5 year graduation rates between public and private also widened from 1988 to 2007. The gap in 1988 was 10.1% (48 % vs. 58.1) and in 2007 the ‘gap’ was 14.1 (43.7% vs. 57.8%

8. When our Product Fails • When compared to an overall attrition rate of 40% (Strauss & Volkwein, 2004), 50% of attrition from a college usually takes place between the freshmen and sophomore years (Theeuwes, 2006). • So the question remains, with all that is being done to encourage more students to attend and persist in college, why haven’t the attrition numbers decreased?

9. Definition of a ‘leaver’ • The following definition captures the essence of the problem of students leaving college prior to graduation: • A leaver or dropout is a student who enters a college or university with the intention of graduating, and, due to personal or institutional shortcomings, leaves school and, for an extended period of time, does not return to the original, or any other, school." In considering any definition, it is important to identify if the definition is from the perspective of the individual student, the institution, or from the economic or labor force perspective.

10. Retention Rates First Time College Freshmen

11. Average National First Year Retention Rate

12. Average Dollars spent per student

13. Average Number of New Students Enrolled

14. Average Number of Student Available to Enroll

15. 19 Year Graduation Rates and 1st year Retention Rates for Four Year Colleges

16. Graduation Rates by College Type

17. Graduation Rates by Admissions Policy

18. Freshman Retention and Graduation Rates for Selected States

19. Retention – Students Lost During the ‘Educational Pipline’

20. Retention For Profits • Four-year for-profit schools, such as the University of Phoenix, Kaplan University, and DeVry University, represent the fastest-growing segment of higher education in the United States. However, their graduation rates average only around 20 percent.

21. Government Help??? • In July 2009, President Obama laid out an ambitious program, the American Graduation Initiative, that could have made a difference. • The program would have pumped $12 billion into community colleges to help meet the 2020 goal. • It included $2.5 billion for construction and renovation at the nation's community colleges, $500 million to develop new online courses, and $9 billion for "challenge grants" aimed at spurring innovation in higher education. These grants would have been competitive, requiring IHEs to design new programs or revamp existing ones. Here was an opportunity for the federal government to encourage IHEs to do a better job in graduating their students, But exhausted by the fight over healthcare legislation and hamstrung by the rules governing the reconciliation process, these policies—all of which could have helped enhance graduation rates—were eliminated or emasculated.

22. Two year School Retention • Graduation rates from two-year schools are far worse —fewer than one-third of degree-seeking students complete in three years. Note that only about one in five students in public community colleges complete their degree programs in three years. In contrast, graduation rates from for-profit institutions average around 60 percent. Not-for-profit two-year institutions also have high graduation rates, but they represent a small segment of the market (only about 5 percent of two-year institutions are not-for-profit).

23. Can attrition be expected? • Natural rate of attrition (Theeuwes, 2006) • Is suggested by the fact there has been little to no change in over all attrition rate in the last 25 years. • Can be defined as some rate that will always be there no matter what is done. No such thing as 100% Retention Rate.

24. Causes for a Natural Rate of Attrition • Four main causes- • Seasonal attrition • a change in the number of students attending our colleges and universities from term to term or from year to year. This is commonly referred to as “stopping out.” • Frictional attrition • is caused by movement of the student from college to college or from one physical location to another which makes attendance difficult if not impossible and makes degree completion even harder.

25. Causes for a Natural Rate of Attrition • Structural attrition • can be thought of as attrition caused by a “bad fit” between college and student, between student and course work. It can be used to describe the situation of students coming to college to “find themselves”, not fully prepared and thus unable to persist due to inadequate academic skills or social skills

26. Causes for a Natural Rate of Attrition • Cyclical attrition • can be thought of as the idea that education is not for everyone because not everyone is admissible or prepared, be it academically, socially, or financially. This lack of preparation can be caused by a lack of planning, lack of financing, or a disbelief in the ability to benefit from an education.

27. Human Issues of Retention • Problems with those who don’t graduate • Have debt and nothing to show for tuition paid • Employment will not make up for this difference • Lifetime earnings will be diminished • Loss of human capital – highly trained individuals • Social welfare issues: voting and health

28. Institutional Issues for Retention • Problems for institution • High rate of attrition is a fiscal problem for schools • Is a symbolic failure of an institution to achieve its purpose (mission) • Hurts a schools reputation • Can cause governmental concern • Hinder financial aid (default rates) • Moral obligations

29. Why Retention Matters-Benefits of Higher Education • Individuals with higher levels of education earn more and are more likely to be employed • Federal, state and local governments enjoy increased tax revenues fro college graduates • College-educated adults are more likely than others to receive health benefits and pension benefits from their employers • College education leads to healthier lifestyles, reduction health care cost for individual and society • College- educated parents engage in more educational activities with their children, who are better prepared for school than others • Adults with higher education levels are more active citizens than others • Resource: Education Pays 2010; College Board,

30. Facts of Retention • What we know: • The highest institutional retention rates in the country are above 95 percent, while the lowest may be only 10 percent. • Typical graduation rates for elite schools may be 85 percent or higher; for average schools about 50 percent; and for non-elite schools 15 to 25 percent. • Freshmen are most likely to drop out of school, while seniors are least likely to leave. • For an average institution, freshman to sophomore year attrition is about 25 percent; sophomore to junior year attrition is about 12 percent; junior to senior year attrition is about 8 percent; and about 4 percent of seniors might leave school. • Roughly half of an incoming class graduates in four to five years.

31. What We Know • Students who stay are: • Enrolled In college right after high school • Attend full time, seeking a Bachelor’s degree • Usually white or Asian • Educated parents, high income, high socioeconomic status • Taken college prep course, scored well on standardized test. • They are engaged at the college of their choice ‘they fit’

32. What we Know • Students who leave; • Have Lower High School academics and test scores • Do not integrate into either the academic or social atmosphere at college • Do not commit to the school • Financial issues • Does not ‘fit in’ • Students who attend the most selective colleges for which they are academically qualified are more likely to graduate than students who ‘undermatch’ by enrolling in colleges that do not match their qualifications (CB) • Outside influences • Non residential students

33. Retention factor babble • Background Variables • These include parental support, parents' education, parents' income, educational goals, precollege academic success (high class rank, grade point average, standardized test scores), college preparatory curriculum, and friends attending college. • For minority students, background variables include extended family support, church and community support, and previous positive interracial/intercultural contact • For nontraditional students they include spouse support and employer support

34. Retention Factor Babble • Organizational Factors • These include financial aid, orientation programs, rules and regulations, memberships in campus organizations, involvement in decision-making, housing policies, counseling, the bursars office, ease of registration, and staff attitudes toward students. • For minority students, organizational factors include role models in staff and faculty, a supportive environment, at least 20 percent minority enrollment, and not viewing rules as oppressive. • For nontraditional students, parking, child care, campus safety, availability of services after hours, evening/weekend scheduling, and cost per credit hour are factors.

35. Retention Factor Babble • Academic Factors. • These include courses offered, positive faculty interaction (both in class and out of class), advising, general skills programs (e.g., basic skills, study skills, math, and English tutoring/help centers), campus resources (e.g., computer, library, athletic, college union), absenteeism, certainty of major, and academic integration. • Factors affecting minority students include warm classroom climate and faculty role models, • Factors affecting nontraditional students include the expectation for individual faculty member attention.

36. Retention Factor Babble • Social Factors. • Among the social factors affecting retention are close friends on campus, peer culture, social involvement (e.g., service learning, Greek organizations), informal contact with faculty, identification with a group on campus, and social integration. • For minority students, social factors also include a positive intercultural/interracial environment and at least 20 percent minority enrollment. • For non traditional students – no one like me.

37. Retention Factor Babble • Environmental Factors. • These include continued parental support, little opportunity to transfer, financial resources, significant other elsewhere, family responsibilities, getting married, and a job off campus more than twenty hours per week. • Factors affecting minority students also include the availability of grants.

38. Retention Factor Babble • Attitudes, intentions, and Psychological Processes. • These include self-efficacy as a student, sense of self-development and self-confidence, internal locus of control, strategies of approach, motivation to study, need for achievement, satisfaction, practical value of one's education, stress, alienation, loyalty, sense of fitting it, and intention to stay enrolled. • For minority students, self-validation is also a factor.

39. Retention: Not Rocket Science • Programs to enhance retention • Early outreach programs (into high school or junior high) to develop students' academic competencies. • Bridge programs that provide study on campus between high school and college. • Orientation programs to ease the transition to college that contain academic strategies, social support, and information about campus life. • Programs for parents so they understand student life. • First-semester courses that continue orientation and provide support and information about campus and freshmen interest groups.

40. Retention: Not Rocket Science • Programs to enhance retention • Advising and psychological or social counseling. • In 1999 Tinto argues that an academic adviser who is fully integrated into the first year experience can be an excellent source of professional knowledge about student success. • Academic skills development (basic skills, time management, • Monitoring students for early warning signs and intrusive counseling/advising. • Social programming for informal socializing (parties, dances, mixers, community programs), and physical places for socializing (unions, lounges, places to eat, study areas that allow talking in libraries).

41. Retention: Not Rocket Science • Programs to enhance retention • Participation in campus organizations and activities. • Programs celebrating cultural diversity, including events of particular interest to diverse groups. • Sensitivity to ethnic and racial issues. • Campus development (students interacting with administrators, faculty, and staff to improve the campus environment • Exit interviews.

42. Retention Programs that work • Wayne State University Had a 34 percentage point gap between its graduation rates for white (43.5 percent) and black (9.5 percent) students in 2007. • Two years ago, Wayne State implemented the kind of learning community approach that many colleges have embraced, and strengthened its need-based aid program to try to eliminate the financial reasons that might lead many academically under prepared students to drop out. The first-to-second-year retention rate for black students rose to 69.6 percent from 56.8 percent from 2007 to 2008, and when the figures for 2009 become available in a month Wayne State hopes to show additional progress. • Howard N. Shapiro, associate vice president for student services and undergraduate affairs and a professor of mechanical engineering there.

43. Retention: Fit Is Important • Loyola University: As a result, "when students get to campus, there isn't this culture shock" that minority students at many colleges with smaller cohorts of such students face, he said. Black (65.2 percent) and Latino students (66.0 percent) alike at Loyola graduate at slightly higher rates than do white students (63.2 percent).

44. Retention: Fit Is Important • George Mason University: The story is similar at George Mason University, which has "many of the interventions and support systems that have proven to be most effective at institutions nationwide" -- learning communities, intensive tutoring, etc., said Andrew Flagel, dean of admissions and enrollment development there. • But what most distinguishes the Virginia public university -- but is "virtually impossible to replicate" -- is that it is "intensely globally diverse," such that "nearly every student who comes is going to find a cohort of students that they can see themselves fitting into." • http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/10/gaps

45. What Can you do? • Role of Aid Administrator – • Role of other college ‘folks’ • Admissions • Registrar • Student Support Services • Others?????

46. What Can you Do? • One Stop Shop • College focused effort • Needs coordination and cooperation • Needs a refocus of limited resources • Less then 1/3 of all responding institutions to a recent CB study have a designated campus administrator who can fund initiatives or make policy decisions to enhance student success and increase persistence (2009). • Needs to be serious and not just rhetoric • Need to remember “perfect is not possible” • Look at policies and procedures and not the ‘good kid syndrome’

47. Retention Is our Business • Finally – If a student is granted admission to our institutions, by this fact we are telling them they have the necessary skills to succeed. If we know that they lack these skills when they are admitted then we owe it to them to provide them with the necessary services that will make them successful. • Failure is an option for our students, they are responsible adults and make adult decisions. If they are given the tools to succeed and then fail that is one thing, but to fail without getting the proper tools is another.

48. Questions/Contact • Dr. James Theeuwes • Director Student Financial Services • Lock Haven University • jtheeuwe@lhup.edu

49. Resources • College Success Programs Author: R. Denise Myers.http://www.pathwaystocollege.net/pdf/CollegeSuccessPrograms.pdf • University of Lousiville. REACH, retention program. http://www.reach.louisville.edu/about/retention.html • The Role of Academic andNon-Academic Factors inImproving College Retention Authors:VeronicaLotkowski, Steven Robbins, Richard Noeth. ACT Policy Report. http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/college_retention.pdf

50. Resources • Syracuse University: Division of Student Support and Retention. http://www.studentsupport.syr.edu/ • McLennan Community College. Retention Program. http://www.mclennan.edu/departments/hsp/adn/retention.html • Hudson Valley Community College. Retention Programs. https://www.hvcc.edu/issr/otherprograms.html