A win-win approach to higher education

Colleges and universities are under pressure from many directions, but perhaps none are more important and essential than student recruitment and retention. The competition for student enrollments is stiffening.

At its peak, in 2025, North Carolina had 120,990 high school graduates, but that number is projected to drop to 112,340 by 2030 because of the sharp decline in birth rates. Not only that, but the number of students opting out of enrolling in higher education is swelling.

Dr. Allen Guidry and Chris Stansbury of East Carolina University recently made very interesting presentation to the ECU Board of Visitors, focusing on the increased competition colleges now face to enroll students, but they said an even bigger issue is keeping them enrolled. Nationally we are told the dropout rate of first year college students is between 22-24 percent. ECU’s goal is not just to keep students enrolled but also to achieve the ambitious goal of a four-year graduation rate of 55 percent. An NBC news report indicated just 41-45 percent graduate within this time frame.

The university understood it needed much more data, such as understanding when and why students might drop out of school. Students face a variety of hurdles during their journey; housing issues, personal problems at home or with an instructor, a bad grade, financial, marriage or other issues. Freshmen have a brand-new environment, away from home for the first time.

Armed with better data, work groups established an initiative titled Pirate 360, an all-out effort to head off dropouts and establish success paths for each student to graduate, a major undertaking.

We were fascinated with ECU’s renewed emphasis on and importance of student advisors in the retention and graduation success. With training, better aids and data, coupled with more in-person meetings with the student, the advisor can better understand students and help them identify issues, sometimes before the student even understands they have one. The advisor can help apply “triage” in ways to help the student around, over and through hurdles and stay on track to graduate.

ECU has ambitious goals and expectations for advisors. It wants the advisor to meet with the first-year student during summer orientation, helping the freshman to choose a course schedule, provide contact information and be available. The advisor then checks in with the student before week three, the so-called “drop zone,” when students can drop courses. If students need help or expresses concerns the advisor helps assuage their fears, letting them know they aren’t alone. The advisor is also to contact the student once again before or after mid-terms to ensure finishing the first semester strong.

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, advisors need to ensure the student enrolls in at least 12-15 hours per semester, the number needed to be eligible for financial aid and to complete the 120 hours needed to graduate in four years. Sometime the advisor needs to intervene to get a student enrolled in courses needed to stay on track.

This BHAG (big hairy ambitious goal) is exciting. It ensures the university is involved in the student’s success. This exciting effort is a win-win all around. The big winners are obviously the students, but the university and the state also benefit.

The student (and parents) won’t need to spend as much money if the student graduates in four years. More importantly, a UNC Return on Investment Study (ROI) in 2023 found that a graduate with a UNC System Bachelor’s degree will earn median lifetime earnings of $1.2 million more than those entering the workforce without the degree.

The University also wins by not having to spend as much money recruiting students to replace dropouts. Better retention and higher graduation rates ensure more state funding for the university. But the biggest payoff is the great story it can tell parents and graduating seniors: “Come to our university and we partner with you, really partner, to keep you in school and to graduate in four years.”

But North Carolina is also a winner. The ROI study mentioned above shows that for every dollar the state invests the student will earn an additional 23 dollars on its investment. Higher incomes mean a better state economy and more new businesses and jobs being created.

ECU is in the early stages of implementing this new ambitious initiative. They are training advisors, gathering data and supervising the implementation of Pirate 360. But initial reports already indicate success in student retention and lower dropout rates.  

We look forward to learning more from ECU. It is likely not the only institution of higher learning addressing these issues, but it promises great potential for the future of our state.

Tom Campbell is a Hall of Fame North Carolina broadcaster and columnist who has covered North Carolina public policy issues since 1965.  Contact him at tomcamp@ncspin.com