Student attrition before graduation entails costs for the individuals involved, for their educational institution and for society as a whole.

According to a 2004 report, the early departure rate for first-year students averaged 12% across 18 Canadian universities. These same schools reported final graduation rates over a seven-year period for a fixed cohort of first-year students that ranged from a low of 60% to a high of 88%. The financial impact of lost students on a university is immense – it loses 75%+ of its anticipated revenues every time a first-year student in a four-year program quits. Students leaving in their final two years eliminate potential graduate studies revenues as well as future alumni donations.

For these reasons, enrolment directors are looking for ways to identify students at risk and for effective intervention strategies to keep more of these students until graduation.

CRi Retention Builder provides a cost-effective solution to identify many of the students at risk of leaving before completing their program while they are still enrolled. Armed with student identities, a university can make more efficient use of its student services spending by pushing advising and intervention services to those students most in need.

Key benefits of CRi’s approach to building retention

Potential major source of new revenue
The investment necessary for CRi Retention Builder is covered once a university successfully intervenes with as few as three students at risk to help them reach graduation. Every additional at-risk student who stays generates new revenue for the university.

>     Cost-effective
CRi’s clients are nearly universal in their agreement that our research solutions provide tremendous value for money.

>     Improved allocation of existing resources
Because CRi Retention Builder identifies students at risk who are still currently enrolled, the university can proactively focus available resources for improving retention where they will have the most effect.

>     Improved forecasting of required resource levels to address retention
Armed with a summary report of the risks that push students to leave early, the university gains an improved understanding of the kinds and sizes of the resources needed to successfully increase retention.

>     Easy implementation
The university can focus its energies and resources on working with students at risk. Survey development, risk assessments and individual student profiles along with reporting to the university in a format that dovetails with existing systems are all carried out by CRi.

 

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