If You Build Them Up, They Will Stay : The Role of Recognition and Feedback on Student Retention

While such stratagems are certainly well founded, and have achieved varying degrees of success, it may be that a more fundamentally vital area of examination is being largely overlooked, namely the impact of the high school experience. One of the critical problems facing many institutions of higher learning is that of student retention. While this issue is an important one to address across the entire student population, it has become particularly acute as relates to minority pupils. Accordingly, many colleges and universities have developed strategies to try to arrest enrollment attrition. These strategies typically include such mechanisms as tracking programs, buddy systems , use of mentors, and so forth. While such stratagems are certainly well founded, and have achieved varying degrees of success, it may be that a more fundamentally vital area of examination is being largely overlooked, namely the impact of the high school experience