College retention rates among country’s best

Home News College retention rates among country’s best

The overall retention rate of women at Hillsdale College for the fall semester was 99.3 percent and for men, 99.8 percent.

For the freshman class, 99 percent of the women were retained and 99.4 percent of men were retained. Translated – only one male student and two female students left campus after their first semester at Hillsdale College according to Rebekah Dell, associate dean of women.

According to U.S. News, amongst liberal arts colleges, Amherst College, Harvey Mudd College, and Pomona College have the highest freshmen retention rates at 98 percent. National universities such as Columbia and Yale rank on par with Hillsdale at 99 percent.

Dell said there are three main factors that go into retaining or losing students. First, retention rates rely heavily on the students that admissions officers recruit.

“How well are we explaining to a student what they should expect?” Dell said.

Admissions is looking for students who are confident of the fit before attending Hillsdale College.

Jeff Lantis, director of admissions, said they are looking for students who have had ample academic preparation for Hillsdale’s workload and if they have a general, “institutional fit.”

“We are looking for students who are ambitious, intellectually curious, and engaging,” Lantis said.

Much of this is determined through on and off-campus interviews.

No matter how prepared students are, Dell said some students leave simply because they come in without a definite picture of what they want to do in the future. A student may decide they want to pursue nursing or education and do not think Hillsdale is the right fit for them. Dell said the college wants to help those students pursue their desired careers at Hillsdale, but that is not always possible.

There are students from all over the country at Hillsdale, and Dell said homesickness occasionally plays a role in a student’s decision to leave campus. She said the college works hard to improve student support, especially through resident assistants.

“We want to ensure students have the help they need – be it academically, emotionally or physically,” Dell said. “RAs are very important to helping students integrate because they are right there with the students themselves.”

Hillsdale’s supportive faculty and administration provide an incredible support system for students according to Dell.

“Professors go above and beyond and care about more than simply teaching,” Dell said.

The college works diligently to help retain students and tracks why students leave so they can deduce what improvements can be made.

Our retention rates have been increasing since 2007 and our current numbers put our rates in the rankings with Ivy League schools.

Lantis said due to the wide geographic mix – students from California, Texas and Massachusetts – our rates are especially impressive.

Senior Tyler Herndon transferred to Hillsdale College last spring. He spent two semesters at college in Atlanta and one in Oxford University before making the switch.

“I didn’t love it there. I sat under Dr. Bauman through Summit Ministries and heard about the vision of Hillsdale,” Herndon said.

Herndon said Hillsdale is everything he expected and more. He was able to get involved with many things he had not even considered at his old college – such as taking Greek.

“I had no intention of doing that originally,” Herndon said.

Even though starting all over again at a new college was more difficult than he expected, Herndon said his experience at Hillsdale has been much more enjoyable – even though it is horribly cold outside.

“The community and attitude of the student body is great – students are excited about learning and are purposeful and committed,” Herndon said.