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Mars Hill Works to Keep Students
by Richard Carrington
For most students, freshman year of college is an adjustment period during which they strive to become settled and comfortable with their surroundings. Now picture a Mars Hill College class full of freshmen. Statistics tell us that fewer than half of the people in that class will graduate in a six-year period.
Such a rate sounds alarming, but according to Dr. Larry Stern, it is normal for small private colleges that draw students with academic credentials similar to ours. However, Mars Hill must raise this percentage in order to fight current budget cuts.
This year, the struggle over the recent resignations of the President and Chancellor and a delay in deciding the tuition raise might affect the number of new students we get in the fall. According to Lyn White, Dean of Arts and Sciences, we want to have around 400 new students next year, but right now the number is around 310 prospective newcomers. White points out that it is still early in the game. The delayed tuition announcement in turn delayed financial aid packages going out to prospective newcomers. We might experience an influx of new students now that the board has finally decided to stay with a 5% tuition increase.
However, there is no telling how much tuition will increase next year if enrollment does not increase. White points out that Mars Hill is continuing its one-on-one recruiting of prospective students, but we're trying some new methods of recruiting as well.
This spring break Mars Hill implemented a Student Ambassador Program. The program involved selected students returning to their home towns over break and promoting the college by spreading their personal experiences. Former Mars Hill College President, Max Lennon, once said that, "Mars Hill's greatest advertisements are its students.'' This program will test the theory.
Recruitment is just one method to increase enrollment. The other way is to keep the students we already have. The Office of Retention at Mars Hill is headed by Rachel Miller. Miller came to Mars HIll College in 1993. She served as an assistant in the retention office. In 1998, Miller was promoted, and now she is responsible for retention here at Mars Hill.
Mars Hill's current retention rate from semester to semester is 90 percent, while it is 80 percent from year to year, according to Larry Stern. Again, he says that this is around average or slightly above average for schools of this size, but Miller has set out to see that these percentages increase.
She says that one of the numerous reasons that students decide not to return to school is "love.''
Students come to Mars Hill and fall in and out of love. These relationships can affect the overall feeling the student has toward school. If the relationship turns out to be negative, the student may have negative feelings towards Mars Hill as well. Also, students come to Mars Hill and have to leave an old boyfriend or girlfriend back home. Sometimes students just cannot deal with this separation.
Students also decide not to return to school because of homesickness. Many students come to Mars Hill after spending 18 years in the same place. They may have never been away from home for a long period of time. Some people just cannot adjust to the separation and the possible culture shock.
Grades also affect a student's decision to return to school. If a student is failing, then it becomes very hard to justify that person remaining.
Students also have to face the fact that Mars Hill does not suit everyone academically. Many students come here with an undecided major. After two years or so, an undecided student might finally decide on a major, and the major may or may not be offered at Mars Hill. If the major is not offered, there is really little reason for the student to remain.
Freshmen have a lower retention rate here at Mars Hill than those in other classes. Freshmen from the moment they arrive must struggle to adjust to independent college life. Their parents and teachers are not there to remind them to pay the credit card bills or write the research paper.
Mars Hill aids this adjustment period with a few different checks and balances. Firstly, Mars Hill requires all freshmen to take the LAA 111 class (Formerly GE 111). The classes orient people to college and how to survive. Mars Hill also offers a Guardian Angel program, in which a capable upperclassman volunteer is trained to help about three to five freshmen through their first year of college. Miller hopes to have 50 Guardian Angels this year, thus allowing the freshmen to get more individual attention.
Class attendance is key during this transition period. If a student stops going to class, it is very likely that he or she will not be returning for another semester. Mars Hill's faculty members realize this and aid in the freshmen transition. Most will report to Miller if a freshman misses more than two classes in a row for no excuse. Miller will then contact the student and make sure that all is well.
If the student is an athlete as well, coaches are usually notified about numerous absences. In fact, Miller says coaches go to great lengths to assure that freshmen succeed in the classroom first and on their field of play second. Most freshmen student-athletes are required to go to study hall. This allows the coach or an older team member to monitor freshmen completing their work. This support may explain why the athletes on campus have a higher GPA than non-athletes. There is a higher retention rate for student athletes when all sports are combined. However, in some areas the retention rate is lower. Among football players who receive financial aid, the six-year graduation rate in 1998 was only 29 percent.
Many students have financial factors that do not allow them to return to school. Mars Hill is a private school and tends to be a little more expensive. However, for a private school, Mars Hill is one of the best buys in the Western North Carolina and Tennessee area. In fact, most students at Mars Hill are here on some sort of financial aid.
Scott Miller has served as the director of financial aid here at Mars Hill for almost four years.
Financial aid is mainly based upon the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). By filling out this document out every year, the financial aid department can better access the financial status of the student. The FAFSA is based on income and family contributions from the prior year.
There is usually little change in the outcome of the FAFSA during a student's tenure. However, there are special cases in which the FAFSA cannot fairly assess a student's financial status. These cases usually stem from death in the family, divorce, and most recently the effects from the September 11th disaster. In these special cases our financial aid department is allowed to alter the financial aid package.
Mars Hill also provides other financial aid possibilities. Upon arriving at Mars Hill, former Chancellor Dr. Robert Knott instituted a financial aid package for incoming freshman. The freshmen are given academic grants based on high school merit. This merit consists of high school GPA and SAT scores.
The downside to this program is that students are not rewarded for GPA improvement. However, their scholarship can be taken away if their grades drop drastically. At the end of the year, the student's GPA is checked. If he or she is not living up to his or her high school merit, that student has a semester to show signs of improvement.
Despite this drawback, Scott Miller says that there are other avenues by which students can be rewarded for improvement. Often scholarships are offered to certain majors. Miller will notify the head of the major of these scholarships and then he will receive names of people that qualify for the award. Miller also points out the vast number of outside scholarships that are available. According to Miller, Mars Hill currently has about $250,000 in outside scholarships. Students are usually notified of these outside scholarships via global email.
The financial aid department also works closely with the athletic department and other college organizations to create appropriate financial aid packages.
The main goal of the financial aid department is to be consistent with their packages and financial aid awards. Providing financial help to as many students as possible will help this consistency. "Contrary to myth, we use every drop of money each year," Miller says. "No grant money goes unclaimed. If we didn't use it, the funds might be cut."
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