With GW parents fresh off a visit during Family Weekend, GW officials are examining how to keep their children happy enough to return for another year. They are looking to improve on a trend of above-average retention numbers in recent years.

GW reported that 91 percent of last year’s freshman class returned this year – a small drop from the 92 percent the year before, according to University statistics.

For most universities, an 80 percent retention rate is considered a worthy target, according to U.S. News and World Report.

New York University’s retention rate this year was 90 percent and Boston University’s freshmen retention stands at 86 percent for this year, according to the magazine, which ranks universities annually.

“GW has been working toward a higher retention rate if possible, because it is good for the University and the students,” Dean of Students Linda Donnels said.

Beil said many factors contributed to the GW average.

“The entire University has made a concerted effort to improve our retention rate,” she said. “Programs such as the Colonial Inauguration and freshman advising have contributed toward helping freshmen settle in.”

Beil said increasing community spirit in residence halls and enrolling freshmen in smaller classes have also made freshmen feel like a part of campus.

“Professional advisers have been meeting with students who have thought of leaving and have tried to intervene on their behalf,” Beil said.
Freshmen cited other reasons to stay at GW.

“The city of Washington was what really drew me to the school,” Elizabeth Fairman said. “I decided that even if the courses didn’t turn out to be what I was looking for, at least I would be able to experience living in a large, busy city.”

Other students mentioned work and internship opportunities as other factors that influenced them to stay.

“Because we are right in the city there are lots of opportunities for jobs and internships, and that is part of the reason why I chose to come to GW,” Neesha Tandon said.

“The jobs in D.C. helped to attract me to GW because I am really interested in working with politicians since I plan to (study) law,” Tandon said.

Students listed the University’s second-tier status coupled with its high acceptance rate as factors why students may be less loyal than students elsewhere.

“Because this school is not in the top 50 and has such a high acceptance rate, more and more people use it as a safe school and leave as soon as they have been accepted elsewhere,” freshman Therese Farmer said.
Busy city life could also be a factor that influences students to leave, Payal Shah said.

“When people come from a smaller town to a big city like Washington, it is probably too much for them to handle sometimes,” Shal said. “They are suddenly in the real world and aren’t ready to handle that so they go back home.”

Junior Matt Melnicoff agreed.

“I think people leave GW because they aren’t ready for the city and the in-your-face people that live here,” Melnicoff said. “I know a student that was thinking of leaving GW because.it was very difficult for him to find a place to live.”

Melnicoff said maintenance issues also caused his friend to contemplate leaving.

“Now that he is settled in, he is having a hard time getting repairs done for his room,” Melnicoff said. “The lock to his door has been broken all year long, and nobody will even come to fix it.”

Studies also show there are reasons why freshmen leave any college or university.

Students often leave when they are not able to connect with college academically, said Betsy Barefoot, a researcher on freshman experiences at the University of South Carolina.

This is often the case in schools where there are large classes and large numbers of students that work full time, according to Avery Comarow’s article, “Vanishing Freshmen,” on the USNews.com Web site.

Although freshmen face many obstacles when coming to GW, “we are always working to improve freshmen retention,” Beil said.