HOW COOPERATIVE EDUCATION AFFECTS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

Higher education was once a growth industry. College enrollments increased from six million in 1965 to over 12 million in 1980. During those years, optimism ran high about the future of higher education in the U.S. Since 1980, however, optimism has changed to pessimism. Enrollment􀀅 have increased slightly across the U.S., but many colleges are starting to see decline. As a result of declining enrollments and other financial pressures, seven colleges shut their doors permanently in 1983-84 (Educa­tion Directory, 1983). The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment of college and university professors will decline by 10 % be­tween 1984 and 1995. All this contributes to growing pessimism on college campuses regarding the future of higher education.

The pessimism focuses on the demographic data concerning the num­ber of 18-year-olds, the primary group from which universities draw their students. Between 1965 and 1980, the number of 18-year-olds was in­creasing. Since most college freshmen are 18-year-olds, colleges did not have to expend extraordinary effort to increase enrollments: they simply allowed nature to take its course. But the number of 18-year-olds has been declining slightly over the past five years, as the result of a decrease in the birth rate in the U.S., which began in 1965. (Figure 1.) Slight increases in the education participation rate for older groups (and the large number of people in those groups) has, so far, forestalled declining enrollments (O'Keefe, 1985). But most students are 18-22, and the birth rate in the U.S. bottomed out in 1977, which means the number of 18-year-olds will bottom out in 1995. This could effect a 22 % decline in college enrollments by 1995. (Figure 2.)

Colleges have therefore become more aggressive in recruiting stu­dents. In addition, those programs or majors which fail to attract large numbers of students are being reduced or eliminated. Conversely, those programs which attract students, or help to retain students, are thriving. Colleges and universities depend heavily on tuition money and higher enrollment means more tuition money. A recent survey of 258 college presidents indicated that the biggest challenges facing them were finances (38 % ) and enrollment and retention (27 %) (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1985). Because finances are so intimately tied to enrollment and retention, it is safe to say that uppermost in the minds of 65 % of col­lege presidents is maintaining enrollments and increasing retention.

If professionals in cooperative education can demonstrate that co-op significantly improves retention and recruitment, their programs will sur­vive and may even win increased financial support. Gordon College has collected data which demonstrates that its cooperative education program attracts students, and that students who participate in the co-op program are more likely to graduate from Gordon than their peers who do not par­ticipate. Two other studies corroborate these findings, but more co-op schools need to undertake similar evaluations.

Gordon's Cooperative Education Program

Gordon is a small, selective, Christian liberal arts college located in Wenham, Massachusetts, about 30 miles north of Boston, with an enrollment of 1200 students. Gordon's co-op program is eight years old and received Title VIII money for five years. Students from all of Gordon's 18 majors have participated in the optional co-op program. The academic year comprises three ten-week terms, and students may not undertake their first co-op placement until they have completed five terms or the sec­ond term of their sophomore year. Students must either be in good academic standing (2.0 GPA or better) or have the special approval of their academic advisor in order to participate. Placements are in areas; relevant to either the student's major or career goals. The program ha<; grown steadily since its inception, and in 1984-85 slightly more than 10% of the student body worked in co-op jobs. (Figure 3.)

Co-op and Admissions

The admissions office at Gordon has worked actively to promote the co-op program to prospective students. For several years, one staff member in the co-op office spent half of her time representing Gordon and its co-op program at college fairs throughout New England. Co-op figures prominently in many of Gordon's ads in such national publications as Campus Life magazine. At each stage of the inquiry follow-up process, Gordon's co-op program is featured.

This effort has yielded impressive results. Incoming students for the past four years have answered a survey concerning the co-op program. The survey is adapted from material developed by Alice Korngold and Paul Dube, and asks

1. Were you aware of Gordon's Co-op program when you decided to attend Goron?
2. Was co-op a significant influence in your decision to come to Gordon?
3. Would you like more information on the co-op program?

The Registrar mailed the survey over the summer, with registration materials, and over 95 % of the students responded each year. Awareness of the co-op program has increased steadily, from 59 % to 69 % over the four years. The percentage of students stating that co-op was a significant influence in their decision to come to Gordon has fluctuated somewhat, but has never gone lower than 18% and in 1985-86 was 25%. (Figure 4.)

Cooperative Education and Retention

Attrition of students is a major problem at any institution. One researcher claims that each student lost costs an institution $2300 (in 1980 dollars) (Terkla, 1981). National attrition rates have remained remark­ably consistent over the years. Approximately 40 % of all freshmen will never receive a four-year degree. Another 40% will receive a bachelor's degree in four years, and about 20% will receive a Bachelor's degree in more than four years. Attrition rates are much higher at two-year institu­tions. Fewer than half of all freshmen who enroll at a two-year school will return for a second year, and only 10-15% will ever receive a bachelor's degree. Attrition rates vary widely among four year institutions. The most selective colleges will lose 10-20% of their incoming freshmen, whereas regional state universities will lose 80-85 % of their incoming freshmen (Cope, 1978).

Attrition is thus a major problem for higher education. Much re­search has been done to determine why students drop out and what pro­grams increase retention, but little has been concluded. There are many factors involved in a student's decision to drop out-financial, academic, and personal. Sometimes leaving a particular institution may be in the student's best interest. Each institution needs to do its own research into attrition to determine what programs or strategies will help improve retention.

Cooperative education was not introduced to improve retention at Gordon, but a recent study suggests that it does. We examined the records of all of the students who participated in the co-op program between 1980 and 1984 but were no longer at Gordon. We examined the registrar's records to find out how many graduated. Then we randomly selected another group of students who attended Gordon during the same time period. There were 329 in the control group and 125 in the co-op group. To ensure that graduation rates were commensurate for co-ops and non ­co-ops, we eliminated all of the non-co-ops who had not completed five terms at Gordon. All of the co-ops had completed five terms at Gordon and graduation rates are higher for those who complete five terms at an institution. We found that 75 % of the co-ops completed their degrees at Gordon, while 65 % of the non-co-ops completed their degrees at Gordon.

This does not prove conclusively that co-op participation increases students' chances of graduating from Gordon. One might suspect that co­ops graduated in higher percentages because their cumulative GPAs are higher. We analyzed the grades of both groups and found virtually no dif­ference in GPAs. The mean GPA for the non-co-ops who graduated was 3.03, with a standard deviation of .53, while the mean GPA of the co-ops who graduated was 2.98, with a standard deviation of .56. (Table 1.)

Two previous studies reported similar findings on retention. Dr. Ray Lindenmyer found that at Northwestern Technical Institute, 10% of the students on co-op dropped out of engineering, while 25 % of non-co-ops dropped out (Lindenmeyer, 1967). H. Stuart Smith, in a separate study, found that while there was no discernible difference in the academic potential of co-ops and non-co-ops at VPI, 20% of the co-ops failed to graduate, while 37 % of the non-co-ops failed to graduate (Smith, 1965).

Conclusion

We cannot say conclusively that co-op causes higher graduation rates for its participants, but these studies suggest a strong relationship. It also appears that co-op can attract incoming students to an institution such as Gordon. Other co-op institutions need to undertake similar studies, because graduation rates vary from institution to institution, and institu­tions market themselves differently to prospective students. Higher educa­tion is in for some hard times and co-op programs that can document ad­mission and retention gains will stand a better chance of survival.