For a small campus, breaking 19,000 students is a feat Oakland University should be proud of. However, this number could be higher if Michigan schools had a higher retention rate for first year students.

According to a study titled “Finishing the First Lap” done in October by the American Institutes for Research, a non-partisanship , behavioral and social science research organization, states and taxpayers are paying approximately $6.2 billion to colleges and universities to pay for the cost of students who did not return for a second year of school.

Out of the 50 states, Michigan ranks 10th in highest amount spent on first year dropouts, dishing out $251,200,000.

In a category for funds spent from federal student aid, Michigan takes the 13th spot with $39,100,000.

These numbers are hardly state-exclusive. Even Vermont, who takes up the last spot in the rankings, spends $7,300,000 on students who leave after the first year.

The state of Michigan offers $50,200,000 in student grants for first year students.

According to American College Testing, a not-for-profit organization that provides education and workforce research and information, one in every four students leaves college before completing sophomore year. According to the same source, nearly half of all college freshmen will either drop out of school completely or complete their degree at a school other than where they began.

The Finishing the First Lap study says only 60 percent of students who begin a college career will graduate with a four-year degree within six years. In 2008, OU spent approximately $6.5 million in attrition costs.

In the same year, the university had a 44.3 percent graduation rate, which, according to collegemeasures.com, ranked 36th among all colleges. OU’s retention rate is around 72 percent, which ranked 41st among all colleges statewide.

While both of these percentages are trending down, the retention rate has only seen a 1 percent decrease over a five-year span.

Mark Schneider, the Vice President for AIR and author of the study, gives no recommendation for increasing retention rates.

“This report is not about why students fail to return for a second year or why some colleges and universities have high dropout rates while other institutions with similar students have low ones,” Schneider said in the study.

“Indeed, arguments over the causes of student failure: Some argue that far too many students are entering college unprepared for the rigors they are about to face. Some say colleges and universities aren’t doing their job in educating their students. Others say that states have not held their public campuses accountable for low student success and are therefore allowing their campuses to take advantage of lax state policies and oversight.”

In attempt to lower these numbers, Oakland has taken many steps toward raising the retention rate to graduation.

In 2005, OU was selected to be part of Foundations of Excellence (FoE), a national program that encourages students to lead a comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated approach to the first year in college.

According to studies done by the FoE, institutions that participated in the program through four years saw an average of a three percentage point change in rate. The retention rates for a high degree of involvement with the program are significantly higher than low involvement.

The FoE plan looked at themes throughout the first year of college at OU and examined areas of the school to look for the causes of dropouts in the undergraduate class.

From the goals of the FoE program, Academic and Student affairs collaborated to address the barriers for first year students.

According the FoE website, the process hinges on a campus-based task force to evaluate performances across the undergraduate class and eventually develop a strategic plan for campus improvement.

While the FoE Task Force researched ways to demolish the barriers, Senior Vice President and Provost for Student Affairs Virinder Moudgil appointed a Retention Committee, consisting of faculty and staff to look at issues at all levels brought to light by the FoE program.

From the discoveries and advances by the Task Force and Retention Committee, OU has instated a plethora of programs and practices in academic and student affairs to keep students enrolled in classes.

These initiatives grew from OU’s FoE process as well as other campuses.

Objectives for first year students were established and printed in the undergraduate catalog. OU developed a first year philosophy to efficiently describe the role each member of the OU community plays to ensure first year success.

The Early Alert system was piloted for students who may be falling into academic difficulty. The system monitors poor class attendance, low grades and inappropriate behavior and contacts the student to offer assistance.

Combined registration allows students the opportunity to plan for future semesters, aiding the student to think long term rather than semester by semester.

A Communications 101 class is offered to ease the transition from high school into university life.

Several offices and organizations have increased their involvement with first year students as well. The Financial Aid office calls students who have a balance on their account to resolve it before registration begins for the following semester. The Center for Multicultural Initiatives helps to address minority student retention, and the Office of Service Learning helps faculty to create an engaging learning environment.

Although there is currently a high rate of first year drop outs, the initiatives OU has in place is working to deter that number and engage students in a successful college career. All of the offices on campus are available to any interested students.

To learn more about the Early Alert system, call 248-370-2529.