We’ll look at examples from leading schools, and discuss the digital tools and approaches your team could leverage to target your own unique retention challenges.

1. Online Solutions to Improving Student Retention
Presented by:
Higher Education Marketing

2. 1. Student Retention: An Important Challenge Facing Schools
2. Creating a Supportive Student Community Online
3. Promoting Campus Support Services
4. New Student Orientation Apps
5. Using Automated Software for Early Risk Detection and
Intervention
6. Helping Students Engage With Alumni Online
Overview

3. With so much emphasis on student recruitment and
enrollment, schools sometimes lose sight of the end goal—to
guide those students successfully to graduation.
1. Student Retention: An Important Challenge
Facing Schools
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
Certain groups of students are
more vulnerable to dropping out
than others, including older
students and part-time learners
who struggle to balance their
studies with work and family
commitments.
Source: National Student Clearinghouse

4. Online student communities can improve retention by providing
valuable support to students during challenging times. Schools
can:
„ Focus on personas most at risk of dropping out
„ Look closely at the challenges and pain points of high risk students.
„ Establish personalized spaces online targeted towards their needs
„ Appoint student ambassadors to provide content and encourage their peers
to get involved
Encouraging interactions on campus is a key ‘engagement
indicator’ and critical factor in student retention, and extending
student groups into digital spaces can help them reach a wider
audience.
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
2. Creating a Supportive Student Community
Online

5. Example:
Harvard’s First Generation Student Union project invites students
to share their personal stories and connect with one another
online.
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
First generation students
are particularly vulnerable
to academic pressure and
financial challenges, the
two top contributors to
drop out rates
2. Creating a Supportive Student Community
Online

6. Making your campus services more visible online will help
you reach out and connect with students at risk of dropping
out. Schools can promote-
„ Academic counseling
„ Free tutoring
„ Career Planning
„ Alumni Mentorship
Schools need to highlight the availability- and social
acceptability- of seeking help from official campus support
organisations.
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
3. Promoting Campus Support Services

7. Example:
The Ontario College of Art and Design uses Facebook to promote
its campus Health and Wellness Centre. Its posts are fun and
creative, and the services it promotes are crucial to
student retention.
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
OCAD offer students
free chair massages,
healthy snacks, guided
yoga, and even visits
with the resident
therapy dog!
3. Promoting Campus Support Services

8. Posting regular stories about students who have used your
resources is also important. Strategic content like this will resonate
with at-risk students, and increase the chances of them seeking
help.
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
Example:
Ryerson University’s
RU Money-Smart
campaign includes a
series of blog posts
from students the
school has helped
through financial
difficulties
3. Promoting Campus Support Services

9. Freshmen retention rates are a huge problem for many schools, as
new students buckle under the pressure of adjusting to an
unfamiliar environment.
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
New student orientation
apps can help freshmen
feel more welcome with
maps, events schedules,
reminders and other tools!
4. New Student Orientation Apps
New student apps are also great branding for schools,
helping promote your unique identity and culture from day
one!

10. Recognizing warning signs and intervening early can be
crucial to student retention. Schools can choose from a
number of automated retention software options to help with
this task, including:
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
Ø Persistence Plus uses a ‘behavioural nudging model’ to send
text messages reminding students to study for tests, work on
assignments, and keep up with deadlines.
Ø Starfish can send out messages to let students know you are
concerned about their academic performance, or congratulate
them on a job well done.
5. Using Automated Software for Early Risk
Detection and Intervention

11. Online alumni-student mentoring can be a valuable
student retention tool, offering students valuable advice from
someone who has been in their shoes.
Source: HEM – 5 Digital Strategies to Improve Your Student Retention
Example:
Ivan Allen College uses
Twitter to connect alumni with
liberal arts students in search
of career advice
6. Help Students Engage with Alumni Online