Getting new students is an expensive proposition for most colleges—not keeping the students we admit is a costly mistake we simply cannot afford to make. It is often said that student retention is everyone’s job, but unless someone is made accountable for student retention, it is likely nobody will be paying attention to the details that keep students engaged and connected to our institutions. With an eye toward ease of delivery, College Matters helps your institution examine all the aspects of your operation that support and encourage student retention from the first admissions contact through graduation.

Student Success Coaching
First-time college students often have a number of obstacles to overcome to be able to focus on their academics and stay in school. We have seen many schools redesign their student services programs over the years, moving from advising to counseling to mentoring and recently to coaching. The problem is: A new name doesn’t change the impact of the program. Research is showing that solid student success coaching using transformational coaching is increasing student retention as students own the decisions they make and learn life strategies for coping with obstacles and barriers that otherwise would keep them from achieving their academic goals and lifelong dreams. At College Matters we have developed a dynamic student success coaching model that brings students, staff, and faculty together in a dynamic relationship from which everyone benefits. Learn how you can begin Increasing Student Retention through Accountability Conversations.

Career Services/Placement
There has been a huge shift even in Liberal Arts Colleges toward measuring the effectiveness of a college degree by increasing earning power. Whether or not you agree with this philosophically, research is telling us that students will use that test to measure how effective their college experience was. Working with the college management team, College Matters will help design an effective, student-centered, career placement department that goes beyond connecting the student with high paying jobs and connects the college with its community.

Campus Activities
Student engagement is the primary reason to have activities that draw students into the college and into the learning community. Clubs, activities, study groups, sports, the arts, and a myriad of other campus activities can be used to engage students and keep them enrolled. College Matters can help you assess your current campus activities against the needs of your college’s student population and design campus activities that are effective for drawing your students in to a deeper and more meaningful level of student engagement.