What is a good retention rate?

Above 95% is excellent for K-12. For colleges, 80-90% freshman-to-sophomore retention is strong.

How do I improve retention?

Focus on student engagement, parent communication, academic support, school climate, and addressing individual concerns promptly.

Ideally yes. Track voluntary departures separately from relocations to understand controllable attrition.

Calculate the year-over-year student retention rate and identify how many students were lost to attrition.

Start of Year Enrollment

Returning Students Next Year

Graduates (expected departure)

Retention Rate

96.8 %

Students Lost to Attrition15

Attrition Rate3.2 %

Retention Rate vs Start of Year Enrollment

Retention rate measures the proportion of non-graduating students who return the following year.

Retention Rate = Returning Students / (Start Enrollment - Graduates) x 100

Attrition Rate = 1 - Retention Rate

High retention (above 90%) indicates student and family satisfaction. Attrition drives enrollment decline and budget instability.

500 students at start, 25 graduates, 460 return next year.

Project future enrollment.

Calculate graduation rates.

Calculate student-teacher ratios.