In response to increasing student attrition rates, Topeka Technical College, Kansas, a proprietary school run by Education America, Inc., adopted a commercial retention program that included faculty and staff training and a success course for students. An evaluation was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the program, involving a review…

A study of eight successive freshman cohorts at the University of South Carolina found that both participating in a freshman orientation seminar and living on campus reduced freshman dropout rates. Students who both participated in the seminar and lived on campus had the lowest dropout rate, whereas those who did neither had the highest dropout…