Current research indicates that overall number of students enrolling in distance education has been increasing, however, the attrition rate for online courses are much higher than in-class courses. For a small institution with limited funds three critical strategies that would have a positive impact on retention for online students include a) retention technology, b) faculty development and c) student services.
For a small institution with limited resources most retention activities are conducted manually. This approach makes it very difficult for early intervention and identifying at-risk students . The entire process solely relies on faculty self-reporting students to a Retention Officer. Even though the retention rate might increase slightly through this process, it will be very difficult if not impossible to increase the retention rate substantially without any type of system/software which will be able to identify the at-risk students for early intervention.A recommended software such as Starfish will definitely have a positive impact in all retention activities. A second factor to the success and retention of online students must be supported by faculty teaching online courses who find online teaching to be personally and professionally beneficial. In order to have effective online faculty, the institution must provide ongoing faculty development in the areas of online instructional skills, course design, and training in the institutions LMS and retention software. The third strategy is to provide appropriate student services which will help the students successfully complete their online programs. These services could be classified as 24/7 technical support, advisement, library services, online tutoring, assistance with study skills, assessments and other online support services. The instituiton should appoint a dedicated person who will focus on these services to meet the needs of the online students.