The levels of student retention is one of the factors in assessing the schools effectiveness. Yet, only a handful of school owner’s have an acute appreciation for how to truly affect continuously high retention rates. College student retention is always on the forefront of the minds of college student advisors, deans, and administrators. Rightfully so, because without college students, colleges and universities cease to exist and the advisors and deans are without a job. One of the challenges is defining where the problem really exists. Most of the effort in finding solutions to retention issues is focused on solving systematic problems. But that’s missing the mark. The initial focus has to be on getting to know your students. To know how to succeed in the career school business and maintain high retention rates is inseparable from knowing your students. You can’t have one without the other.
Therefore retention and academic success is hugely important to ensure the success of a college or university. As a former college student and lifelong learner who frequents college campuses speaking on this topic and occasionally taking some professional development coursework myself, I have observed and come to know a few reasons why colleges fail at retention and why college students become discouraged and leave college.
These days, majority of colleges and universities are dealing with problems regarding student retention. Administrators have continuously looked for ways to effectively manage the schools they are running because of the fact that each year, a decreasing number of students enroll in their respective schools. Although there may be other reasons why students drop out of school. But whether it’s about financial or social factors, fact is, the institution itself can do much in making increasing the likelihood that students stay despite their own personal challenges.
The educational system itself cannot exist without educators and the educated together and this symbiosis is proof enough that there are more avenues to be explored to make their relationship more stable. And as with any relationship that has to thrive, communication or a lack of it creates the biggest influence.
The value of communication between a school and its students cannot be emphasized enough. As a matter of fact, even the most basic situation where in a student has a plan to leave a school can illustrate this clearly. To illustrate, when a student is experiencing a financial difficulty making it hard for him or her to continue and pursue his degree, when a direct channel between the administration and the student exists, then both can come up with an appropriate means to come up with a proper arrangement. So the student does not have to quit school because a compromise has been reached between him and the school altogether. This compromise allows the student to stay in school and pay his fees on a mutually agreable manner. This scenario can cause the profit of the school to be delayed but this is better compared to have less enrolee on its master list.
To make this communcation channel work, the people who will be making it possible should conduct themselves in a mannger that is fit to manage student concerns. And the school administrators should ensure that they do so. If the staff implementing it shows a negative attitude, this channel, no matter how well it was made, will not be effective. All human relationships depend significantly on their natural need not only to be heard but also to be heard while understanding that one is welcome for whatever he has to say.
After all, education is not just about increasing people’s knowledge on the various disciplines. It also invovles providing a healthy environment so that wisdom can grow both on the educators and the students. When it comes to making people stay, relationships have to stay healthy of this to be possible, effective communication provides the secret.
Conducting students survey regularly can be effective in spotting the factors that contribute to student attrition and determining concrete steps that promote students retention
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