Why students leave From the Non-Returner Survey to the Retention Survey Part I. W. Allen Richman, Ph.D. Laura Ariovich, Ph.D. Nicole Long, Ph.D.

Introduce the Non-returner survey (mandate & history) Show what’s behind stable enrollment patterns Propose a revamped methodology to survey non-returners Present survey results & next steps to reduce the non-returner rate Presentation goals

Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) – 76% African-American Credit and Non-credit programs – 143 active credit programs 40,000+ students annually – Fall 2011 headcount for credit 14, 647 students 60% female 70% part-time Faculty – ≈250 full-time – ≈ 700 adjuncts PGCC at a glance

All MD Community Colleges are required by the State to survey non-returning students, defined as those students who attended college in the Spring but did not return or graduate in the following fall. Survey asks students to: o State their educational goals for attending PGCC o Report whether they achieved them o Indicate what factors they perceive as reasons for not returning o Comment on how PGCC could better serve their educational needs Non-returner survey mandate & history

PGCC enrollment trends

Typical enrollment flow at PGCC

Old Methodology o Random sample of 1,000 non-returners o Students would receive questionnaire by mail o Students who didn’t reply would receive a second mailing Old result o 1.7 to 3% response rate (between 84 & 160 respondents) The Non-returner survey in the Past

Methodology o Electronic questionnaire sent by to all non- returners with valid addresses o Four reminders sent to those who did not reply (sent on different days and times) o Initial invitation & all reminders signed by PGCC President o Use of an incentive The Revamped Non-Returner Survey

964 students responded (15.4% response rate) High quality data: o Even if only the three initial questions were set as “mandatory,” 96% of respondents completed the full survey. o 65% of respondents chose to answer the final, open- ended question: “In what ways could PGCC better serve your educational needs?” Non-Returner Survey Fall 2012

Non-returners’ goal achievement

Factors identified as major reasons for not returning Item% Major Reason I did not have the money to enroll.43 I could not attend college due to personal problems.38 I was unhappy with my academic progress.26 I was unhappy with the services for students at PGCC.25

Factors not perceived as reasons for not returning Item% Not a Reason I needed a break from school.77 My educational goal changed.75 I moved away from the area.85 I could not find child care so that I could attend classes.88 I could not get to campus due to lack of transportation.85 The classes or programs I wanted were not available.76 I was unhappy with the activities for students at PGCC.85

To sum up: o 48% of students came to PGCC for an associate’s degree. A smaller percentage came for transfer (26%) or for other reasons (26%). o Students who came for transfer or for other reasons were significantly more likely to complete their goals. o Among those students who didn’t report transferring or having achieved their academic goal, the factors identified by most as a “major reason” for leaving were not having money to enroll (43%), personal problems (38%), being unhappy with one’s academic progress (25%), and being unhappy with the College’s services for students (25%). What the numbers tell us

Stage 1: Preliminary review of all comments and formulation of tentative categories. Stage 2: Coding of comments based on tentative categories and reformulation of categories to achieve better fit with the data. Stage 3: Recombination and elimination of categories based on the type of comments and the number of quotes included in each category. Recoding of all comments using the final set of categories. The analysis resulted in four major classes of comments, three of them further classified into sub-categories. Analysis of students’ comments

Positive comments about PGCC (examples paraphrased) o Percentage of all comments: 26% o Subcategories: o Goal achievement: “At PGCC, I had the chance to take the only class I was missing to complete my program.” o Encompassing positive experience: “My experience at PGCC was excellent in every way.” o Positive experiences with faculty: “I was able to show what I’m capable of thanks to Professor X.” o No complaints: “PGCC is fine, I have no complaints.”

o Percentage of all comments: 28% o Subcategories: o Problems with advising/financial aid: “Advisors tell you to go to the website, but you need more help. I ended up taking classes that don’t count for transfer.” o Problems with faculty: “Some professors, like Professor X, just tell you to look in the book. They won’t try to help you understand.” o General problems with college responsiveness: “College employees are not well informed or think that someone else will assist you.” Lack of college responsiveness (examples paraphrased)

o Percentage of all comments: 21% o Subcategories: o Locations, times, days, and frequency: “The classes I needed to finish were not available on evenings or weekends. Had to find another school.” o More online or hybrid classes: “The online class I wanted was full. Offer more online or hybrid classes.” o Affordability: “More grants for Hospitality Management students. I have a decent job but it’s not enough.” Affordability (examples paraphrased)

To sum up: o 65% of respondents answered the open-ended question: “In what ways could PGCC better serve your educational goals?” These comments were coded resulting in the identification of three classes of comments: o Positive (26%) – generally happy with the college o Lack of college responsiveness (28%) – dissatisfied with the level or quality of support in academic advising, financial aid, the classroom, or the college as a whole o Lack of course availability / affordability (21%) - dissatisfied with course availability or concerned about affordability and the need for more financial assistance What the comments tell us

The Non-Returner survey’s new methodology contributed to: o Increasing the response rate o Producing high-quality data o Saving resources But even the revamped Non-returning survey has limitations: o Focuses on students who already stopped attending classes at the College (at least temporarily) o Thus, it cannot be used as a direct intervention to prevent students from exiting the College Next step was to survey all credit students in the Spring. Summary of strengths & weaknesses – Next steps