Retention Efforts Have Great Results

Approximately 51 percent of Plymouth State University’s budget is derived from tuition revenues. This fact alone makes predicting undergraduate enrollment in higher education a significant challenge. Each year it becomes a balancing act to enroll a large enough first-year class to satisfy revenue projections without exceeding the limits of student housing and classrooms. The other piece to this evasive enrollment equation is retention—determining the number of current PSU students who will return each year and remain until graduation.

Improving retention at PSU has been a strategic initiative for a number of years. In 1997, Plymouth State administrators decided to increase academic standards in order to attract students who were better prepared to succeed academically. Several avenues were followed to achieve this goal. First, PSU increased the number of incoming students who ranked in the top half of their high school classes by expanding the direct mail effort, initiating off-campus receptions for prospective students, and continuing the telephone counseling service to prospective students. Financial aid was another important means to this goal. Rather than awarding financial aid solely on the basis of need, PSU used the Admission Office’s achievement level quartile rankings to increase the number of merit scholarships and Talent Grant awards available to higher-performing students. Becoming a university has also helped PSU to be the first-choice institution. More high school counselors recommend PSU to their higher-performing students and more of those applicants accept admission. PSU has also enhanced its reputation and image by committing to improving its facilities and information technology. As an example, this fall Langdon Woods, a new student residential complex was opened. The residence hall not only contains the most modern amenities—including a multipurpose room, fitness area, kitchen, café, computer cluster—it was designed to demonstrate the University’s continuing commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability.  Academic departments and committees have continually reviewed curricula in an attempt to reduce the overall time-to-degree average for undergraduate students. PSU has also revised existing degree programs to ensure that students have the opportunity to complete their majors in four years. New majors, such as criminal justice and communication studies, have been added in recent years to attract and retain high-quality students.

Another effort to improve retention at PSU is the establishment of the College of University Studies. Research revealed that the University retained more students with declared majors than those who were still “deciding.” This is because students who wait until their second or third year to declare a major may leave school out of frustration or lack of finances when they realize that they cannot complete their education in four years. Also, those who are still deciding often feel less connected to the university community. The College of University Studies provides these deciding students with a campus home and helps them to choose a major early in their academic programs.

PSU's ongoing retention efforts over the past 10 years have been successful 
The fall headcount by class as shown in Table 1, it is evidence that efforts to improve PSU's retention and graduation rates have been productive. The fall headcount has grown by 808 students (18.8 percent), the size of the first-year class has grown by 146 students (11.6 percent) over the past 10 years. Freshman, first-year retention is the highest since 1998 and graduation rates the greatest since 1993.

The strategic initiative to improve retention at Plymouth State University required a collaborative effort to raise academic standards, increase merit financial aid, add new majors of interest to prospective students, improve university facilities, and establish the College of University Studies.