DSC retention rate below national average
A.J. Griffin
Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: DSC News
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Earlier this year administrators hired DSC alumni Brock Bybee and Jared Burton as retention specialists to head a new retention program. School administrators are trying to improving DSC's below-average retention rates.
According to institutional research released Dec. 30, 2008 at new.dixie.edu, 44.9 percent of freshman students returned from fall 2007 to fall 2008, which means 55.1 percent of freshmen leave DSC. This study was directed by Frank Lojko, vice president of student services.
David Roos, executive director of enrollment services said DSC's retention is well below the national average for public, open enrollment four-year schools. Roos said because DSC is an open enrollment institution, it is difficult to achieve a high retention rate. Roos said schools comparable to DSC retain on average 55.1 percent of incoming freshmen.
Director of Advisement Rick Palmer said DSC now has the resources to focus on improving the school's low retention rate. If DSC can keep the students here, new majors can be added more quickly.
"Since making that transition from a two-year to a four-year school, we have lagged behind the other schools retention wise," Palmer said. "But I think it's going to change."
Palmer said one of the keys to improving retention at DSC is to expand the 15 bachelor's degrees DSC offers to a larger field of majors.
"We have had a huge influx of students, and the key now is to keep them here," Palmer said. "I think we are headed in the right direction."
The retention staff has surveyed almost 1,000 students, searching for what students feel is important in obtaining their education. According to the surveys, many students said they valued small class sizes at DSC. Overall, students desired more activities on campus. Burton said the retention staff will focus on giving DSC more of a university campus vibe.
"Retention is pretty low," Burton said. "The biggest thing that we are trying to do is to make this feel more like an actual college environment."
The surveys conducted by the retention staff also asked why students would leave DSC. Most students said the reason they would leave DSC would be to transfer to another school because of the lack of majors offered. Many students also leave on LDS church missions after their freshman year.
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