THE BUSINESS OF STUDENT RETENTION IN THE POST SEPTEMBER 11 ENVIRONMENT--FINANCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL AND EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Most colleges and universities have long practiced financial aid policies designed to attract and retain freshmen students. For the institution analyzed here, the receipt of financial aid did enhance student retention, especially if aid was in grant form. In recent years, many colleges and universities have also integrated “freshman seminar” or “experience” courses into their academic programs to enhance the retention of first-year students. This institution implemented a required freshman experience course during the Fall 2001 academic semester. Unfortunately, freshmen students introduced to this course were also simultaneously exposed to the September 11th terrorist attacks. The 2001 freshman class exhibited greater attrition than the previous year’s freshman class, which was not subject to the experience class requirement nor exposed to the events of 9/11. Abstaining from the absurd conclusion that the freshman experience class exacerbated attrition tendencies, the natural implication is that the economic and psychological ramifications from the September 11th atrocities altered the academic objectives of many first-year students at this institution, particularly non-Caucasians, and compromised any potential positive impact of the experience course.