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Research
Student Retention: Are Schools Taking Advantage of Technology?
5/13/2008
When asked to rate (on a five-point scale) the importance of individual online programs, "face to face/synchronous interaction" ranked No. 1, at a mean score of 3.9. Other types of programs scored as follows (1=not important; 5=extremely important):
- Mentor programs: 3.6
- Technical support: 3.6
- Online academic resources: 3.5
- Online academic advising: 3.4
- Online career counseling: 3.1
- Online community activities: 2.9
- Service agreements with students: 2.8
Of those surveyed, 63 percent said they do "project retention and graduation rates and report on progress toward that target."
Demographics
Of those participating in the survey, according to EducationDynamics, 69 percent had less than 20 percent of their student body enrolled in graduate programs; 51 percent said that more than 70 percent of their student bodies are made up of undergraduates. Seventy-seven percent had enrollment of 10,000 or fewer students, and 46 percent had fewer than 3,000. Seventy-six percent said that "more than half their students depend on federal financial aid to pay for school."
The complete results of the study will be released at the National Dialog on Student Retention Conference June 3. Further information about the conference can be found here.
About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
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