Despite increasing enrollment percentages from earlier years, online courses continue to show receding student retention rates. To reduce attrition and ensure continual growth in online courses, it is important to continue to review current and updated literature to understand the changing behaviors of online learners and faculty in the 21st century and examine how they fit together as a cohesive educational unit. This article reviews literature to ascertain critical reasons for high attrition rates in online classes, as well as explore solutions to boost retention rates. This will help create a starting point and foundation for a more, in-depth research and analysis of retention issues in online courses. Examining these issues is critical to contemporary learning environments.