Implementing effective student retention strategies is important for all institutions of
higher education. This is especially true for smaller, private colleges as resources for
higher education are stretched and the dependence on tuition revenue to maintain fiscal
viability increases. This longitudinal study focuses on the utilization of retention
strategies at Council for Christian Colleges and Universities member institutions. The
results indicate that institutional selectivity and the utilization of a student retention
program over a long period, as opposed to the utilization of any individual student
retention strategy in particular, positively correlate with student retention to
graduation. Conducting an annual evaluation of the effectiveness of enrollment management
also showed statistically significant results. Implications for student retention at
private colleges are discussed and considerations for future research are also
highlighted.
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