Part 1: Laying the Foundation for Retention Success
While 100% retention for independent schools sounds ideal, not only is it hard to achieve, it prevents schools from enrolling fantastic students in non-entry years. Some attrition is beyond your school’s control. Families move or a newly identified learning difference may result in a search for a specific learning environment. Unavoidable financial circumstances may also be a factor.
In our two-part series on retention, we offer key strategies to help you retain students with a comprehensive, personalized retention plan.
The NAIS 2023 How Parents Pay School Costs Survey reveals that from 2018 to 2023, the level of stress parents felt about paying tuition increased from 47% to 55%. Those same parents reported a decrease in overall satisfaction in sending their children to independent schools, down from 55% in 2018 to 44% in 2023.
According to an article published by SAIS, from 2004 to 2024, NAIS tuition rose from $14,622 to $31,088. With parents spending more on tuition than ever before, it is no surprise they have become more scrutinizing customers. While schools are in the business of education, schools, specifically independent schools, are also very much a customer-service-based industry.
The good news? Schools do exert some control over attrition. Keeping your students and their parents happy, satisfied and engaged is key. Addressing attrition at re-enrollment is too late. Developing a clear plan well in advance and keeping regular watch on attrition will bolster retention.
Creating a Comprehensive Retention Plan
Track your attrition: As you learn which students are looking at other schools, keep track of the names, reasons and sources of this news. Use a shareable and confidential spreadsheet and discuss it weekly at enrollment management staff meetings and school leadership meetings. It is important that your division head colleagues know which families in their divisions might be looking out—and that these school leaders feel part of the solution to retain families.
Consider why students are looking at other schools: Are students leaving your school due to learning needs, social issues, gender, diversity or financial concerns? Understanding why students seek another school environment will help you create a plan that entices them to stay.
More often than not, potential attrition results from a more complex issue. This is where having a plan, a team and steps in place to address the issue through documentation can help you lower attrition risks at your school.
When creating a comprehensive retention plan:
- Invite key members of your school’s administration to join the retention team.
- Create a way to confidentially track the names and reasons for student attrition. Anytime a faculty or staff member hears that a student may be looking to leave your school, add the student to your attrition risk list.
- Identify the issue of why the student or family is considering leaving your school.
- Assign a key team member to follow up with the family and document follow-up strategies. Engage other faculty and staff who know that student and family well. Sometimes, the simple act of school personnel reaching out to a family eases the tension. Remember: parents and students want to feel noticed, known and loved at your school.
- Create a plan to address the issue and the proper way to approach the family. It may be an issue you cannot control, like an out-of-state job relocation for a parent. But if it is something you can address, work collaboratively on possible solutions.
- Discuss the potential attrition list at weekly leadership team meetings to keep it front and center.
Creating a Schoolwide Retention Team
Retention is a whole-school effort. Classroom teachers, advisors, deans, coaches, school counselors, the business office, dining and operations staff, and the head of school are all part of the team essential to keeping attrition low. Ensure everyone on your campus understands how vital they are to your school’s success.
Buy-in is important. Talk about retention at the opening faculty meetings and how crucial it is that faculty and staff share with you when they hear that a family is looking elsewhere. Explain your retention plan strategy so your internal community understands what happens when they share this vital information.
Have advisors and teachers be on the lookout for any social changes. While attrition is a numbers-and-dollars matter for school administration, it is a huge life change for students. Keep that in mind and keep their well-being a priority.
If you have multiple divisions, and you are not retaining as many students as you’d like from one to the next, talk with the currently enrolled 6th and 9th grade families to discover how your school onboarded them in the new division. Did they need a more comprehensive focus as 5th and 8th grade families with shadow days and a parent panel on what life is like in your middle or upper school?
Explain any new initiatives in parent newsletters. Treat these events like you would for any admissions events for prospective parents. Current parents and students want to be “wooed” as well. Offer swag and have a follow-up plan to share information with these families, such as key news about the upper school in the middle school parent newsletter, for example.
Handling Hard Transitions
When you know you will not be able to retain a particular student, how the relationship with the departing family is handled can hugely impact how they speak about your school to others. While it can be a hard transition, make it as easy as possible for the student and family. When a family has good things to say about their exit experience, that is a strong endorsement.
While it may be hard to hear that a student is applying elsewhere, provide transcripts and recommendations as quickly as possible. Be sure your faculty treat the student with the same care and respect as any other student.
It can be difficult to hear negative feedback about your school, especially when you’ve been engaged with a departing family for a while. Giving them an opportunity for an exit interview may help diffuse any ill will built up through the departure process.
Retention and Tuition
Families may receive their new contract and face an unmanageable tuition increase. Be open to conversations with families about their financial circumstances, and if you are able, consider increasing their financial aid grant.
Prior to re-enrollment, offer resources for parents to get more information on financial aid. If you are facing an atypical tuition increase, plan and discuss a rollout of that information well before you issue re-enrollment contracts and be sure all families know how to apply for financial aid. Are there webinars with the business and financial aid office? Is there an informational PDF on the website? Your school’s transparency and unified front on financial issues are critical.
For alumni parents, it’s also essential that they feel the love. Let the advancement office know if an alumnus/a is concerned about an issue of finances. Work together on a communication plan with alumni parents. This constituency feels a special kinship with your school and deserves attention.
The time you spend planning for and focusing on retaining your current students is vital to your school’s sustainability.
How may Kalix help you with retention plans? Reach out to learn more about us.
