Student Retention Gap Analysis

The lack of engagement of Black alumni at PWIs may be caused by the campus environment that Black alumni experienced while attending as students. Prior research has shown that alumni who have had positive undergraduate experiences and strong feelings about their alma mater are more likely to donate and/ or participate in alumni events. Gaier (2005) notes that students have a higher rate of satisfaction when cultivating positive relationships with faculty and are more inclined to give back to their institution in the form of time and donations as alumni. Clotfelter (2003) conducted a study that shows that alumni satisfaction is linked to the particular types of experiences that alumni had while on campus as students.

Diversity, what does it look like at Jackson State University (JSU), a historically black university, located in Jackson, MS? Administrators in higher education are charged with the responsibility of preparing students to be civil minded in a society that is changing rapidly as it relates to the inclusion of others. With such intensity to incorporate increased changes and differences, there is a need to collectively understand the full scope of differences among students.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) are experiencing low retention rates with first generation college students. The students are not graduating within a four to six year enrollment period, and or are not returning after their freshmen year. As the American workforce looks to colleges and universities to fulfill the workforce pipeline with educated diverse workers, HBCUs are in the spotlight to produce qualified minority graduates. Moreover, HBCU’s are looking to refine their methods of inclusion and buy-in, this will in-turn manifest a higher level of retention amongst first generation college students.

While overall college enrollment and graduation rates have risen for all minority groups, there continues to be concerns for this segment of the population, particularly for African American students. Even

Money in the form of tuition, government funding, and personal donations allow institutions to fund programs and ultimately make the college experience enjoyable to current as well as prospective students. Historically black colleges lack both the government funding, personal donations which makes it much harder for them to appeal to students. Due to lack of funding, many HBCUs are dated facilities, lack scholarship opportunities and offer fewer programs for students looking to apply. Many HBCUs have loss accreditation in a number of programs with contributes to the decline of enrollment and furthermore a loss of potential revenue. However, regardless of the harsh reality many of these colleges are facing, their impact on society and most importantly in the black community is one that can not be refuted. Some of the country’s most influential people are products of an HBCU education. The question should not whether or not HBCUs should cease to exist but instead how can the be fixed and brought back to

Regardless of the type of institution, retention is one of the biggest issues that colleges encounter with the Hispanic/Latino population. The question has been posed for quite some time: What can colleges do to, not only keep these students on campus, but also to prepare them for the challenges they may face when transferring to a four-year school? Various programs on college campuses across the state of California have been implemented in the past couple of decades to help address this question. The existence of such programs, like Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), contribute to the academic success of the

For over a century the University of Texas (UT) has served as a leading institution educating America’s leaders, however; the lingering effects of prior discrimination haunt the campus. Due to perceptions that UT’s environment is not supportive of underrepresented minority students, the University lacks diversity within its student body. Regardless, UT continues to receive an overwhelmingly selective applicant pool. However, without student diversity UT deems it difficult to perform its mission of providing superior educational opportunities while aiding the advancement of our society.

These universities likewise have a great graduation rate in numerous remarkable fields securing the future achievement of these graduates. These foundations establish qualities and ethics into each one of their people, show them how to be effective, upstanding subjects, and transform them into remarkable good examples. Historical black universities and colleges help their people exceed expectations in their picked professions. These organizations were initially settled to allow African Americans to get further instruction and now it allows them to end up successful in the public eye too grasp their way of life and history. Keeping blacks on the road to improving their inner selves, HBCUS are Still critical. Black universities and colleges will dependably be important because they support the training, self-regard, and achievement of African Americans everywhere throughout the

Student attrition is a growing issue among community college administrators but there’s been little research into how community colleges’ policies and practices reflect this concern, or how they affect student attrition rates. Research has shown that students in online courses continue to experience higher attrition rates than their counterparts in traditional face-to-face classes despite the advantages offered by web-based technology (Shea & Bidjerano, 2014). In prior studies, researchers have found a multitude of factors contributing to high attrition rates among college students in online classes. A number of studies found that certain environmental/life circumstance factors can affect student attrition rates in online classes (Aragon & Johnson, 2008; Atchley et al., 2013; Harrell & Bower, 2011; Park & Choi, 2009; Wigenbach, & Akers, 2013: Shea and Bidjerano, 2014; Xu and Jaggars, 2013; Xu and Jaggars, 2014). These factors include:

In this chapter, it shows that FAMU has grown with each president. When I began to read about these great people and all the great work they have achieve. The history Founder Vice President Thomas Vann Renssalaer Gibbs made and fought for is appalling. He was successful in establishing a colored school to Tallahassee. Before I came here I knew this is where I wanted to be It made me proud to be a part of history of this institution. It made me realize what all FAMU has to offer me. To see this history reminds me of the struggles our ancestors went through and how they endured so that so many could profit. FAMU has faced several tough times throughout its history, but has done so much for the community. Being known as a historically black college

Very few studies focus on the limited engagement of Black alumni who graduate from PWIs. Even fewer offer suggestions as to how to increase this engagement. Black alumni are more likely to be engaged with the university when they have had positive undergraduate experiences (Gaier, 2005). These positive experiences are due to the relationships that were developed while they were students on campus. Newman and Petrosko (2011) describe it as a positive emotional attachment, which generates alumni loyalty.

DSU was founded in 1925, in Cleveland MS, where this school was mainly a predominately ‘White’ institution. Just like other schools in the Deep South, there were several of stipulations for other minorities to attend the universities. DSU has since then allowed every ethnicity to attend the university all over the world. Now for students there are over 60 programs that they can chose from when deciding on a career, whether its online or in a class room setting. Every university in MS are competing with each other, but in my opinion DSU and MS Valley are just a like when I come to colleges in a rural area. DSU is one of the many universities that offer nursing, and aviation program. The main goal for DSU is to increase enrollment and have a higher turnout rate. All schools will see a turnover rate but school officials are trying to change that any way the can. School officials are targeting students in the delta area, instead of targeting other areas in MS. My advice to the school officials will be to expand their horizons, have recruiters go out and promote the university, which would help boost up there retention rate. I will give my recommendations for growth, maturity, and decline for colleges over the state of MS. How can school officials keep students enrolled in school until he or she completes the entire program? I feel that the amount of enrolled individuals inside of a class setting will have an effect on the schools growth. Most students prefer a

Although many people will have different opinions on how to achieve personal success in college and consequently increase student retention, there are effective strategies that are proven to aid in achieving these goals.

In addition, “Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Sub staining a culture of excellence in the twenty-first century” by Nia Cantey, Robert Bland, and Danielle Joy-Davis shows the data on how historically black universities and colleges are rising to the top. It addresses the issues on funding and the challenges of accreditation at numerous schools. In the rest of this issue it pinpoints the legacy that each individual school has to uphold. I would also like to discuss the instructive approaches by HBCUs consistently making programs that build minority, especially African Americans, cooperation in underrepresented fields like, designing, business, and solution among others. Organizations and companies that are focused on expanding differing qualities regularly look first to understudies selected in HBCUs to fill temporary positions and low maintenance positions that offer true experience and create initiative abilities. HBCUs were set up particularly with the objective of expanding African Americans ' entrance to a school, so undergraduates going to these schools can and will be able to feel enabled by the way that they 're effectively safeguarding and exploiting their rights.

My passion towards working with students every day has led me to the decision of pursuing a doctoral degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Miami University. I have chosen this program to prepare myself for a future role as a professor or a senior level college administrator. This program will allow me to become more proficient within the students’ educational experience and therefore better engage students in active learning.