Student Retention in 2024: A Modern Ghost Story

Todays’ quickly evolving digital culture has had many benefits for the way we live, work, play and learn.

Food delivery apps satisfy our cravings in seconds, YouTube tutorials teach us new skills in minutes, and push notifications ensure we are never far from some kind of update or stimulation from our phones or Smartwatches.

The convenience is undeniable, but this does come with a few drawbacks, and there are signs this culture of instant gratification has led to some worrying behavioural shifts and a potential attention span crisis. One of the signs has been dubbed “ghosting” in the online world - when someone cuts off all communication without explanation. 

Whether it is perceived to be easier to “vanish” without social repercussions in the online world, or because it is linked to an increasing need for constant and regular stimulation - ghosting behaviour seems to be floating beyond the online world and extending into other social circumstances like school and university classrooms.

Australian Universities have identified a “Ghost Student” as one that enrols in a subject, but then never participates and hence, they receive a zero-fail grade. “Ghosting behaviours place an academic and financial burden on students; universities see a reduction in their publicised ‘success rates’; and governments see little return for the allocation of Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) funding.” says Dr Stephenson, from LaTrobe University. It has become such a problem that from 2022, the Job ready Graduates Package will require that only genuine students have access to Commonwealth assistance at Australian Universities and an institution may need to refund the fees of what are referred to as non-genuine students.

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A frightening trend

Prior to 2020, results from QILT’s annual Student Experience Survey (SES) had shown remarkable stability. For example, the undergraduate student rating of the Quality of entire educational experience varied within a narrow range of 78 to 80% since the survey commenced in 2012. The latest survey however showed an 18% drop in Learner Engagement from 2019-21. Across the student experience focus areas which includes Skills Development and Student Support - 5 of the 6 areas have seen a decrease in positive ratings. Not surprisingly, the pandemic catalysed a haunting trend which we are still trying to recover from. 

Today, the SES reports that 19% of undergrad students considered leaving higher education in 2021, with 50% of those respondents citing health or stress reasons. Furthermore, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency expects the decrease in learner engagement scores will lead to an increase in student attrition rates.

How can we tackle this challenge?

With Learner Engagement being the lowest scoring focus area and Health or Stress being the highest reason for considering early departure among undergraduate students, it's clear that education institutions need to address their student engagement strategies and start driving proactive health and wellbeing initiatives - or they are at risk of becoming empty graveyards of wasted potential.   

It all starts with the implementation of better standards of identification, monitoring and reporting of non-participating enrolment (NPE) as a distinct category. Education providers should be regularly checking in with their communities to ensure they are hyper-tuned into signs of ghosting behaviours. 

Considering that amongst the students who demonstrate ghosting behaviours in their commencing year, just 10% went on to record an overall average pass mark in that year - education providers have found there are a few areas that need to be addressed as part of the overall student experience - starting with the very first few weeks.

Embedding a proactive student engagement strategy

Being proactive about engaging with students is key - not only for the successful completion of their course, but also for broader health and wellbeing inside and outside of the education facility. 

So how to approach regular check-ins, without coming across as annoying or disingenuous? Understanding the “moments of truth” - those pressure points where a student is most likely to experience a positive, or negative emotional response, can help to identify when and how to proactively reach out. Implementing a proactive engagement strategy can turn a negative experience into a positive one, and a positive one - into an opportunity to create a loyal and engaged student champion, inside and outside of the campus.  

Starting from the day a student accepts, educators should be asking themselves: when do we need to reach out to ensure they are enrolling for the upcoming intake? One week before term starts, have they secured all their required reading materials and are they excited to meet their Professor? Early into the semester, how are they feeling about their course load? With a decline in their Student Health Score, shall we organise time with an academic advisor or would they like to speak with student wellbeing?

Identifying the moments of truth

I am speaking with leaders in Education everyday here at Pendula, from the likes of Ikon Institute, MCI and The University of South Australia, and in my conversations I’ve identified over 100 moments of truth or emotional trigger points when education providers should be proactively engaging with their students over the duration of their course, to help mitigate the risk of attrition and lead to better outcomes overall. 

For example - a student's birthday is coming up and the SES shows that 30% of undergraduates cite Study/Life Balance as a reason for considering early departure. A “Happy Birthday” text message sent a few days before with a reminder to take some time off to celebrate with friends and family can go a long way to help someone feel cared for and supported.

Another example may be in the case of marginalised or disabled students who are more likely to report lower engagement levels and demonstrate ghosting behaviour. Working to build a community bringing together like-minded people to share their experiences and connect is a great way to foster a greater sense of belonging, improve mental health and in turn - boost engagement. 

Most education facilities have built out helpful health and wellness programs, student groups, and counsellor support but find they are under utilised. Sending out regular communications to remind people of the resources that are available to them, will help to make everyone in the community feel seen, and supported.

Conscious automation

Thankfully, for education providers who are struggling to manage and monitor NPE in their facilities today, there are simple tools that can be used to help embed a proactive engagement strategy. Proactive, automated messaging sent at the key moments of truth to students have been proven to decrease zero fail grades, mitigate attrition, improve the academic experience and more importantly, support mental wellbeing.

Since sending out automated, personalised text messages using Pendula for example, Jenna Baskin, CEO of MCI Institute has seen new enrolments convert to active users more effectively and login rates within the first 7 days of using the MCI platform has risen from 54 to 89%.

“Catching the students when they are excited and motivated about their learning has been very helpful in ensuring they see it through,” she explains. “We need to fight procrastination and re-energise our students – the more you don’t login, the more your work builds up and eventually people lose the motivation to start working. The quicker we can get people to login, the more likely they are to progress and to finish their learning.”

Reach out to us if you’d like to talk about the moments that might matter to your students, and how Pendula can help you leverage them to enhance the student experience and deliver better outcomes for all.