CARS - RETENTION MANAGEMENT SOLUTION

Increase & Keep Enrollment

Best practice solutions to improve student persistence.

Retention is a serious issue for Institutions with both ground and online programs. At some Institutions, 50% of students drop in the first term, often in the first 5 weeks. The result is reduced tuition opportunity, wasted student acquisition expense, and a false-start for the
student. To improve student persistence, a comprehensive plan using people, process and technology is required. Retention also requires a full time focus to effectively identify at-risk students and proactively contact them. CARS partners with Colleges to improve retention.
  

Retention Management Checklist

People

Do you have a team dedicated to nothing but Retention? Or are they shared resources? Do you have specialists that can answer questions across departments? Are you open 7 days per week with extended hours?

Student Retention - People

Process

Do you systematically contact every student after they enroll, start class, and approach key academic dates? Are students contacted before continuing financial aid years? Do you have escalation procedures?

Student Retention - Process

Technology

Can you proactively find at risk students? Do you have a customer relationship management system built specifically for Retention? Do you have automated call workflow based on pre-set rules? Are outbound calls integrated to the CRM? Does your system record calls and e-mails?

Student Retention - Technology
Improving student persistence requires focus. Do you have the people, processes and technology to succeed?
Why Invest in Retention?
For most Colleges and Universities the Retention effort is shared among departments such as Admissions, Faculty, Student Affairs, Registrar, the Business Office, etc. Inevitably, all students do not receive the proactive attention due to the competing demands from the ‘full-time’ job. Investing in a group that is focused on improving student persistence is not always easy. Budgets are tight and there are competing demands. However, it is essential to invest in retention as there is an immediate return in ‘retained tuition’. Example: 100 students times an average of $20,000 program value is $2,000,000 in lost tuition revenue. Factor in cost of student acquisition and even a few students saved pay for your investment in student persistence.
What does CARS Provide?
CARS provides a complete people, process & technology solution that works with your staff. We deploy in 30 days and bill per student with no capital outlays. Our solution includes:  
  • World-class technology built specifically to improve student persistence. Technology includes: Online Retention CRM system, automated workflow integrated to telephony and e-mail systems, automated contacting based on at-risk indicators, integrated notes to Student Success Advisors prior to call placement, integration to College Student Information Systems, automated e-mails for issues requiring escalation to the Institution, etc.
  • One-on-one service and outreach to students by our specially trained Student Success Advisors at milestones such as, registration, book distribution, midterm, finals, schedule updates, etc.
  • Escalation of issues to appropriate college staff (e.g., tutoring, financial aid) and
  • tracking to ensure escalated issues were resolved.
  • Personal monitoring of student’s risk factors including, but not limited to: attendance, grades, social, cultural or cognitive issues, and self-reported roadblocks.
  • Consistent set of contacts and analysis for every student, throughout the entire term.
  • Custom communication plan for each client, including, key events in the academic calendar.
  • We gauge the student’s satisfaction, ‘fish’ for issues and report back key information to the Institution.
 100 students times an average of $20,000 program value is $2,000,000 in lost tuition revenue. Factor in cost of student acquisition and even a few students saved pay for CARS services.
Getting Started

Non-traditional students require additional retention methods.

CARS Founder and Chief Executive Officer is a former College President; this heritage is an important reason we understand College needs and can help you improve retention. To get started, we suggest:

  • Conference call & solution demonstration
  • Complete retention questionnaire
  • Scope of Services/Proposal
  • Contract
  • Finalize custom workflow, contacts and data interfaces
  • Test
  • Go-live 30 to 45 days from contract

Contact Matthew Johnner at 214.208.0436 – mjjohnner@collegiatersvp.com