Data from a recent study was released earlier this week to determine if college retention programs are smart investments. The study titled Calculating Cost-Return for Investments in Student Success was conducted by The Delta Cost Project and Jobs for the Future.
Some interesting findings from the study are…
-Data about spending in relation to performance for all campus programs (not just student success programs) are unavailable for most campuses. Thus, there is no context for determining the cost-effectiveness of student success programs compared with other options for increasing degree attainment.
- The annual direct program costs per student varied widely (from $59 to $1,601 per student), as would be expected from the range of types of programs surveyed. However, these program costs remain a fraction of the annual full costs per student for the general student population, which are $6,802 to $19,108 per student for these institutions.
- Seven of the thirteen programs showed an increase in retention that could be associated with participation in the student success programs.
- The ISS Cost-Return Calculator is a useful tool for institution-level decision-making, and specifically for understanding the costs of success for particular students served by certain interventions.
- Almost all of thirteen institutions experienced a “change in conversation” around first-year programs, student outcomes, and cost-effectiveness because of the process of using the calculator.
Additional Thoughts
I fully believe in assessment and was somewhat surprised most campuses did not have data to participate in the study. I also understand in today’s climate monetary and program cuts are inevitable. Knowing all this it still bothers me the “effectiveness” of a program is based on the cost-effectiveness and not learning. The calculator is a great tool but should not be the only data used in making decisions that will change the learning environment of a campus.
