Is Your Retention EPI 90% or Higher?

One of the most important EPI’s (Enrollment Performance Indicators) that I look for in a school is its retention rate.

Ironically, several administrators I have worked with recently don’t know their school’s retention rate. This is interesting to me since retention is an indication of the overall satisfaction and health of a school. It is the measurement of how satisfied your parents really are with the investment they are making in your school.

Let’s take a quick moment for a lesson in how to determine your retention rate.

A school’s retention rate is the measurement of the relationship between the students eligible to re-enroll for the next year that actually enrolled. Essentially, you should take the total number of students enrolled less your graduates to determine the number eligible to re-enroll. You could refine this further by using the number of student contracts for re-enrollment offered. Then, simply divide this total number by the those students that actually enrolled.

Retention = (Re-Enrolled Students) / (Total Number of Students Eligible to Re-Enroll)

Once you understand how to compute your retention rate, the next step is to make sure you have this historical data available for your enrollment management strategy. If you know these trends, you will know better how to adjust your strategies in order to improve your retention rate so that you will have a great school with satisfied parents.

The mark of a great school is one with a retention rate of at least 90%.

So, how’s your school’s retention rate?  If it’s under 90%, then you have a lot of work to do. If it’s over 90%, then take time to celebrate and then get back to work because you still have some improvements to make (but perhaps not as much as other schools!).