Student retention 8.3% higher with parent engagement

CampusESP’s annual exploratory study looks at the connection between family engagement and student retention. Our 2024 release looks at 12,374 first-time, first-year students that enrolled at nine universities in the Fall of 2022 and returned for the following Fall 2023 term. On average, student retention was 8.3% higher for students of parents who had student data access in CampusESP.

This year we expanded and included trends on some of the students you focus on the most. Data collected showed that retention rates were even higher for Black, Hispanic, first-generation, and Pell Grant-eligible students whose parents had data access.

For the purpose of this study, "data access" refers to parents or family members having access to, and in some cases receiving alerts about, student records, including new holds, bills, and unmet financial aid requirements via CampusESP. All parents were required to initiate an electronic FERPA waiver within CampusESP. Once the students granted FERPA authorization, most parents received early alerts and easy visibility into student progress.

These results complement earlier studies initiated by CampusESP on the impact of parents on student retention and persistence, including a 2021 exploratory study, a 2017 Tarleton State University which showed that students whose families are involved with academic support are more likely to persist, and a 2018 study with Abilene Christian University that confirmed that parent engagement improves student persistence.

The results are clear and encouraging: parent engagement matters in student retention. Providing families with critical financial and academic information allows them to support their student, encourage them to stay on track, and ultimately contribute to their long-term success.