Record Student Retention Rates Stay Steady Over Three Years

January 8, 2025

Policy changes and a variety of academic and student support efforts have led to record student retention rates at Hudson Valley Community College over the past three years.

According to Associate Dean for Academic Advisement and Retention Matthew Howe, the college has maintained year-over-year student retention rates above 60 percent since the Fall 2021 semester, which was the first semester the college had recorded a student retention rate over 60 percent for first time, full-time students.

The average student retention rate for that same cohort at SUNY community colleges statewide is 57 percent (Fall 2021 – Fall 2024).

“All of the retention efforts that have been put in place over the past several years are aimed at keeping students on track toward completion here at Hudson Valley,” said Officer in Charge Louis Coplin. “Our advisement, student service offices and academic support staff are constantly innovating and working with students to help them persist and reach their goals.”

The college’s retention success is likely due to a variety of factors, Howe said, including some changes that were made to the Academic Standing and Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policies, which allowed more students to continue to attend rather than being academically dismissed and receive financial aid through their first year of study at the college.

“The college’s administration had implemented some of those practices during the pandemic, and then saw the success of students and determined that those policies should be permanently changed. The changes were all handled through shared governance with the Academic Senate,” Howe said.

The implementation of several new student support efforts over the past several years, including the Graduation, Achievement and Placement (GAP) program and the Student Senate and Athletics Retention Program (SSRP) which are offered through the Center for Academic Engagement, as well as the Advancing Success in Associate Pathways (ASAP) program certainly helped in the increased retention.

Additional new support services have focused on students’ basic needs insecurity and ways to highlight campus mental health services, which have both been prioritized by SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. Opened this past year, the Student Success Center connects students to on-campus and community resources.

Howe said that the use of the customer relationship management tool, CRM Advise, has become more pronounced and targeted over the past several years and has allowed staff to more easily reach students with support and retention messages.

Overall, retention stays at the forefront of campus efforts through the work of the college’s Retention Committee, which is comprised of members from all divisions of the college. The committee’s efforts align the college’s Retention Plan with the Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness Plan that focuses on continuous improvement and dedication to student success.

“This is a campus-wide effort to help students stay in school and complete their education,” Coplin said. “We are fortunate that so many on campus are focusing their attention on student success and retention.”