The issue of student retention and persistence has continued to grow in importance throughout the history of higher education in our country. Beginning in the 1970s, the research began to focus on the reasons students remained enrolled and how colleges and universities could make changes or develop programs to increase the retention of their students. These terms are used daily in higher education, often interchangeably. Examples of NSF Cyberlearning projects that overlap with topics discussed in this primer. Instead of dismissing adult learners as a fringe population, it’s time for higher education to recognize and embrace the unbridled potential of this growing population. Charlie L. Nutt NACADA Associate Director Amidst the changing educational landscape, institutions need to cater to these cohorts to keep retention rates high, while also considering their unique demographics. Adult learners also have many responsibilities outside of collegiate studies, meaning they require a greater degree of flexibility from their courses and instructors. There are also some deeper shifts needed in the culture of education that will take coordinated efforts across all communities of educational stakeholders. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education. For example, if fall to spring retention rates are low, take a closer look at the cohorts that are dropping out. You can find more information about our platform here, or contact us for a free demo. The National Academies Press. © 2019 Precision Campus. However, let us move away a bit from the what and into the why. But what are grit, tenacity, and perseverance, and how can educators create environments and experiences that promote them?1 While many people think of grit as a personality characteristic that resides within the student with little room to change, the fact is many different factors can contribute to grit—both externally in the environment and internally for the student. While there is still a need for evaluation evidence, the following conceptual clusters illustrate some of the many ways leaders are designing learning environments and supporting the development of mindsets and strategies. // Student success, however defined, lives at the heart of every institution (I realize this could be challenged, but I have chosen to keep my cynic hat in the closet for today’s screed). How to use persistence in a sentence. Why should you care about persistence and retention? Are they really the same thing? Instead of dismissing adult learners as a fringe population, it’s time for higher education to recognize and embrace the unbridled potential of this growing population. Precision Campus is a cloud-based data analytics platform that was developed to help higher education make better decisions through data. The misconception that intellectual power alone can enable students to succeed in school and life is giving way to a deeper understanding that attaining long-term and higher-order goals can depend so much on how people deal with inevitable obstacles, setbacks, and challenges. To accept and respect the conflicting responsibilities of adult learners, institutions should explore online and hybrid learning models that can grant students greater freedom in when, where, and how they participate in a course. – An entity situated hierarchically above the institution, which includes but is not limited to state boards, private owners, corporate parents, Tribal councils or religious denominations.