Keep Them Enrolled
Colleges now find that keeping students is as critical as recruiting them. Each departure erodes tuition revenue, wastes recruitment dollars, damages reputation, and forfeits the long-term value of alumni contributions. Retention depends on academic support, mental health care, career counseling, and building a sense of belonging. The University of Iowa shows what is possible: this fall, 90.4% of first-year undergraduates returned, a record driven by hands-on learning, personalized advising, expanded support, and a campus-wide mobile app. With enrollment pools shrinking and skepticism rising, the institutions that thrive will be those that not only attract students but also keep them engaged, supported, and successful.
Further Reading: Cost of Losing a Student | Higher Ed Marketing | University of Iowa
Work Study/Federal Work Study Program. (genAI)