MEGAN LOMBARDISTAFF DEVELOPMENT WEEK

JANUARY 13 , 2015

Why do Students Leave CLC? Results from the Fall 2014 Survey of Withdrawn

Students

Methodology

Identified college level students who dropped or withdrew from ALL their courses after opening day in fall 2014. Students may have dropped all their courses between

the start of the term and the 15% point of the course. Students may have been withdrawn by their

instructors at midterm (e.g. WS, WN). Students may have withdrawn themselves before the

withdrawal deadline (e.g. W).

How Many Students Withdrew?

What percent of the college level students enrolled in fall 2014 withdrew from all their courses? There were 14,263 college level students enrolled in

fall 2014. There were 1,198 students who withdrew completely

after opening day (8% of enrolled students) 744 students (62% of the withdrawn students) dropped

all their courses between opening day and the 15% point. 454 students (38% of the withdrawn students) withdrew

(or were withdrawn) from all their courses between the 15% point and the withdrawal deadline for the semester.

How Many Students Withdrew?

Students withdrew from between 1 and 18 credit hours. An average of 6 credit hours were withdrawn per

student

A total of 7,532 credit hours were withdrawn after opening day.

Who are the Withdrawn Students?

Demographics Withdrawn Students Fall 2014 Enrollees

African American/Black

12% 8%

Female 56% 54%

Non-traditional Age 51% 37%

College Readiness Withdrawn Students

Fall 2014 Enrollees

Reading/Writing Ready 86% (3% undetermined)

88% (2% undetermined)

Math Ready 31% (8% undetermined)

37% (6% undetermined)

Who are the Withdrawn Students?

0 .5 - 14.99 15 - 29.99 30 - 59.99 60+0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

25%

28%

19%18%

10%

Credit Hours Acquired by Withdrawn Students

Credit Range

Perc

ent

of

Wit

hdra

wn S

tudents

Who are the Withdrawn Students?

No GPA Below 2.0 2.0-2.99 3.0-4.00%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

25%

15%

28%

32%

Cumulative GPA, Withdrawn Students

GPA Range

Perc

ent

of

Wit

hdra

wn S

tudents

Possible Reasons Students Left

Drop for non-payment 28% of the students who withdrew completely had been

dropped for non-payment after opening day. More than half (51%) of those who were dropped for non-

payment did not re-enroll after they were dropped. 49% re-enrolled after being dropped and ended up

dropping themselves or withdrawing later in the term.

Cancelled classes 2% of the students who withdrew completely had one or

more classes cancelled after opening day in fall 2014. Fewer than 1% of the withdrawn students had all of their

classes cancelled.

Fall 2014 Survey of Withdrawn Students

Rationale Withdrawn students are an under-studied population

at CLC Understanding student attrition can help to improve

student success Preventing student attrition can help offset declining

enrollment

Purpose To better understand the reasons for student

withdrawal. To identify actions CLC can take to prevent student

withdrawal in the future.

Survey Items

11 items Major reasons for leaving CLC this semester (open ended) Groups or individuals who influenced students’ decision to

leave Academic factors Employment factors Financial factors Personal factors Other factors Main reason for leaving (closed ended) Plan to return What could CLC have done to prevent student from leaving What can CLC do to help student re-enroll in the future

Survey Invitation

College of Lake County Student Stop-Out Survey, Fall 2014

Dear ${m://FirstName},

We noticed that you are no longer enrolled at CLC this semester (fall 2014) and we would like to know what caused you to leave. Your experiences are important to us no matter when/why you left the college or if you plan on coming back! The information you share with us will help us better understand what we can do to help our students stay enrolled and be successful in meeting their educational goals.

Please take 5 minutes to share your experience with us by clicking on the link below (please reply before November 21st):

${l://SurveyLink?d=Take%20the%20Survey}

The information you give us will be confidential; identifying information will not be shared with your instructors, advisors, or other college staff and will not impact your grades or relationship with CLC in any way.

If you have questions about this survey, would like to speak to someone about your experience, or would like information about coming back to CLC, please contact the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Planning and Research at 847-543-2096 or clcresearch@clcillinois.edu and you will be directed to someone who can help.

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience at CLC!

College of Lake County

Survey Administration

Distributed to students with valid home email addresses in PeopleSoft (n=1,198)

Ran for 2 weeks (November 6-21) with one reminder to non-respondents.

Approximately 18% provided valid responses (n=215)

No direct incentive to participate

Who are the Survey Respondents?

Demographics Withdrawn Students Respondents

African American/Black

12% 8%

Female 56% 71%

Non-traditional Age 51% 72%

College Readiness Withdrawn Students

Respondents

Reading/Writing Ready 86% (3% undetermined)

91% (1% undetermined)

Math Ready 31% (8% undetermined)

28% (6% undetermined)

Who are the Survey Respondents?

0 .5 - 14.99 15 - 29.99 30 - 59.99 60+0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

18%

27%

22%23%

10%

Credit Hours Acquired by Respondents

Credit Range

Perc

ent

of

Resp

ondents

Who are the Survey Respondents?

No GPA Below 2.0 2.0-2.99 3.0-4.00%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

18%

8%

28%

46%

Cumulative GPA, Respondents

GPA Range

Perc

ent

of

Resp

ondents

Why Did Students Leave?

Major reasons for leaving (open-ended) 43% personal reasons

E.g. Health, family obligations, relocation

29% course-related E.g. Disliked content or instructor, workload, class was

cancelled

20% financial-related E.g. Did not receive FA, did not understand policies/processes,

could not afford tuition/fees/books

18% employment-related. E.g. scheduling conflict, workload, lost job

Why Did Students Leave?

Primary reasons for leaving Personal

17% indicate unexpected family responsibilities 17% indicate a medical or mental health concern 19% decided they needed a break from college

Academic 14% indicate they could not get into the classes they needed/wanted. 14% were not satisfied with the instructor and 8% indicate the

course material was not what they expected. Financial

17% indicate they did not receive assistance with financial aid 15% said tuition and fees were too expensive; 13% said

books/materials were too expensive Employment

26% indicate a conflict between work and school schedules

What Could CLC Have Done?

34% of respondents indicate that they would have liked more student service assistance Mostly, students would have liked financial aid

assistance (e.g. completing forms and answering questions)

34% indicate there is nothing CLC could have done; leaving was due to personal circumstances

22% indicated improvements in class scheduling could have helped them stay enrolled (i.e. not cancelling their class, more options available)

What Can CLC Do to Re-enroll These Students?

What percent of respondents do you think indicated they will or might return to CLC?

What percent of the students who withdrew in fall 2014 do you think are currently enrolled

for spring 2015?

What Can CLC Do to Re-enroll These Students?

35% requested financial assistance including help with financial aid, more time to pay tuition, lower tuition and fees, and better communication about college payment policies.

27% requested changes to class scheduling; primarily not cancelling classes or offering more options for cancelled classes.

22% seem to need some advising/counseling and 12% need some academic assistance (e.g. tutoring)

9% said there is nothing CLC can do, they will return once they resolve their personal issues.

Next Steps

Strategic recommendations Target dropped students for intervention/assistance (e.g. mailing

lists, phone trees, advising) Offer more information/assistance to students being dropped for

non-payment

Next steps for research Continue administering withdrawn student surveys in spring and

fall semesters Identify whether differences exist based on semester

Conduct research that includes students dropped prior to opening day as well as those dropped during the term.

Determine how many dropped students end up at another institution (transfer)