Moves Towards Retention By: Abby Blair
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ne of the most challenging decisions that individuals will make in their lifetime is deciding what college they will go to. The decision will affect what kind of person one can become as well as open up a whole new door to opportunities. Often, incoming freshman enter a school for certain reasons that end up disappointing them after enrollment. What is it that causes individuals to leave the institution that they originally chose? There are many different reasons including, but not limited to, issues with the diversity at schools, preference towards a religious affiliation, or disappointment with certain majors. In this report on retention rates, three private, liberal arts colleges in separate locations throughout Virginia will be compared with insight into the opportunities offered at each college. Bridgewater College, Ferrum College, and Averett University will all be compared in this evaluation of the school’s retention rates. This will help to
uncover what some causes may be that cause individuals to transfer from institutes as well as describe what is offered at the colleges that keep students throughout their four years. One of the special aspects of a liberal arts school is their focus on a well rounded education of the individual as a whole instead of a solely major focused education. This allows an individual to enter the work force prepared for a variety of demands with skills in fields across different fields.
Ferrum College is located in Ferrum, Virginia in a community that sits to itself surrounded by a natural setting. The positive aspect to this is that the college is likely to have a stronger community do to its seclusion from larger cities. Many students enjoy this aspect and find that there are an abundance of activities offered by the school if students are willing to step out of their dorm room. The retention rate of Ferrum College for first year, full-time students is at 53% according to the 2013 College Board statistics. This rate is the lowest of the three colleges that are being compared. Why is this so? Ferrum often recruits for their various sports teams and one student, who wishes to remain anonymous, stated that, “Ferrum is a place where if you don’t belong to a sports team or know people when you first move in, you will likely have a hard time getting involved with other people unless you are a very outgoing person.” There is the thought that considering the closest large city is Roanoke, VA which is approximately 45 minutes away, that some students feel ultimately too secluded at Ferrum. Some students particularly enjoy the seclusion that the campus has, such as Codi Marie Wright, a junior from Danville, VA who stated, “It is a small like home, which is nice considering you have a personal connection with your professors. I have
considered transferring, though, because of the quality of the new animal science professor.” Otherwise, Codi Marie enjoys her experience at Ferrum College, but wished that is was not a liberal arts college. In reference to a liberal arts education, she admitted, “It is a burden being an agricultural science major yet having to bother with the English, history, and business departments as well as trying to meet your fine art requirement.” The College Board rate for the number of students who transfer out of Ferrum College is 48%. There is a United Methodist affiliation at Ferrum which could be a positive aspect of the college for some students. An anonymous student stated, “It is not highly pushed on us which is nice at times, but being religious person I would prefer that there be more of an emphasis on the religious aspect of our development.”
Bridgewater College is a private, liberal arts college in the Shenandoah Valley. The retention rate of Bridgewater College for first year, full-time students is at 77% according to the 2013 College Board statistics. Bridgewater is approximately 10 minutes away from James Madison University which is often a place for students to get the large school experience if they so desire it. Bridgewater is a small town and the campus is a very centralized part of it which makes for a very well built community. Joanna Caples, a Bridgewater Senior, stated, “The Bridgewater family is so loving, even though I am in the wrong place for what I want to do, I would never consider transferring.” A student that works in the Bridgewater Admissions stated that, “A lot of people think that coming to a school with a dry campus is going to be less fun, but the truth is it doesn’t really matter once you are here. The campus is great and there are so many connections Illustrations By Ben Zeller
for everyone to make you just have to set foot out and find them.” The Bridgewater community prides itself on being a primarily residential campus, which is unfortunately a reason that some people thought students may be unhappy with the school. Recently, the school allowed for a few seniors to live off campus, but surprisingly, there were not nearly as many applications to live off campus as were expected. This demonstrates that people are actually happy to live on the campus and be a part of the community.
Averett University Averett University is located in t Danville, VA, the furthest south of our three compared colleges. The retention rate of Averett University for first year, full-time students is at 60% according to the 2013 College Board statistics. Averett’s Campus is a tad more spread out than usual campuses. Even though it is a bit more spread out, students there still feel that there is a sense of community. One student, Rachel Harrelson, stated that, “I transferred from VCU to the liberal arts school so that I could have a more personal relationship with my professors as well as be able to have smaller classes which allow me to be a much more engaged student.” Averett University has higher retention rates than Ferrum college by 7%, but is not close to a very large city, though Danville, VA has many of the same aspects that a larger city would. Averett University offers specialized extracurricular programs such as the equestrian center which is located about 15 minutes away from their campus. A student who wished to remain anonymous stated that, “Even though Averett is spread out, the campus is full of opportunities for people to have connections and friends groups on campus. Anytime that someone feels as though there is nobody for them on campus it is likely that they are not looking for the connections that are right in front of them.”Averett, unlike either of the other two compared col-
There will always be one reason or another that people are unhappy with a college. There are just some schools that are better fits for students than others. Individuals need to take into account the best fit for them at schools with room to love the school even after they change their mind about career paths. One reason found that causes unhappiness of campus would be that people come expecting to get something different out of the major that they came for, or that people change their mind and do not want to hassle with the transferring of liberal arts credits. People who go to a liberal arts school without knowing what a liberal art school does as far as its curriculum are often unhaoy with the wide variety of classes that they end up having to take.
leges, is a university, meaning that they offer master degree and post undergraduate education. This could be an aspect as to why their retention rates are slightly higher. There are many individuals who could want to get used to a place and then be able to stay there for all of their education. Another student who wished to remain anonymous stated, “I was recruited to Averett for football but I felt like I may have made the wrong decision. There are so many other people on the team, it is hard to become noticed. Though I wouldn’t consider transferring due to the general hassle and the fact that I am comfortable here, I do wish that I had considered more aspects of the athletic program before coming to a college to play, when I never get time.”
Illustrations By Ben Zeller
Overall if students would research out their potential college extensively as well as speak with student on campus they would be far less likely to be surprised with the way that their lives are on campus. The colleges themselves can only do so much to try and change the things that students are not happy with, but even if changes are made there will always be those people who don’t want to take the step out of their dorm room and make connections. When choosing a college, it is best to compare the general idea of the type schools you want to go to before sending in that deposit. It will save in the long run a hassle with transferring and dissatisfaction with the choices made.