Higher education institutions need to be responsible for understanding the characteristics and qualities of learners who decide to take courses with them; online vs. on-campus and what it takes to keep them learning at an institution. Taking heed and modifying structures, communications, and services will help learners and institutions in this ever-increasing online degree market where organizations compete globally for learners. Today, acquiring learners through marketing and recruitment is a large portion of the higher education budget and online learners are retained at rates 10-20% less than face-to-face offerings (Hubert, 2006), making it paramount to the success of our distance and online institutions to figure out how to keep these learners. Knowing who they are and what is important to them, as well as the factors for retention will help us with benchmarks and to devise plans to see these learners through to graduation. Examining the research and literature available on online learners and retention (key terms such as "online learner population," "online learner retention," and "distance learner retention"), and our own statistical analysis of Colorado State University Online learner retention will help us identify the characteristics of a retained population in order to support and advise learners within credit hours and services to support their learning and to help us to know when certain learner populations might need extra support to be retained.