Undergraduate student recruitment and retention activities of selected land-grant colleges and their influence on enrollment management

Land grant colleges across the United States are faced with declining undergraduate student enrollments. A United States Department of Agriculture national job study projects long term shortages in trained personnel for expanded career opportunities in agriculture, biotechnology, environmental sciences and the life sciences.;This research surveyed Resident Instruction Deans of land grant colleges on undergraduate student (preadmission and postadmission) recruitment and retention activities which appear to influence enrollment management practices. The results of the study will be particularly relevant to land grant college decision makers who are responsible for enrollment management at their institutions.;Two survey instruments (questionnaires) were developed and mailed to the Resident Instruction Deans at the fifty land grant colleges in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Responses were analyzed and used to answer sixteen research questions concerning (preadmission and postadmission) recruitment activities, retention activities and enrollment management practices at land grant colleges. Seven major findings were as follows: (1) Total enrollment in land grant colleges declined by 21,009 undergraduate students from 1981 to 1986 with the Northeast and the Northcentral regions having the greatest average percentage decline and largest total enrollment decline, respectively. (2) Land Grant College admissions standards are not prohibitively high for potential students. (3) Advising, Career Planning and Development, and Financial Aid are ranked high among the top quartile of land grant colleges' (preadmission and postadmission) recruitment and retention activities for undergraduate students. (4) Better record keeping of data on students serviced by, budgets for, and personnel involved with recruitment and retention activities is needed to develop benefit/cost analyses to maximize the use of limited resources. (5) Resident Instruction Deans perceive the value of and rank Advising as the top preadmission, postadmission and retention activity. (6) There are regional and size differences in the land grant colleges' use of recruitment and retention activities. (7) There was a significant correlation between the number of (preadmission and postadmission) recruitment and retention activities and undergraduate student enrollment at land grant colleges.;In conclusion, (preadmission and postadmission) recruitment and retention activities for undergraduate students influence enrollment management practices at land grant colleges.