<p>Do any sites have stats on attrition rates?</p>
<p>After reading a post about students leaving school during first several weeks, I wondered whether the various schools release any data on attrition? With all the test prep classes, tips and tricks about filling out applications, how successful are admissions in selecting students who are a good 'fit' for their schools?</p>
<p>Is there no data available anywhere on this?</p>
<p>If you google “student attrition rate” association profile, and poke through the list, you can find some reports on schools, which list rates in the aggregate, for different regions. </p>
<p>However, it’s not so useful. There are so many reasons a student could change schools. There are family reasons, such as moving, or losing a job, or a divorce. Certainly, some students could flunk out, but others might change because they’ve discovered an interest that’s better served at another school. Some are kicked out because of drug and alcohol use, but which is better, a low rate or a high rate? And the reasons aren’t reported publicly. Some students change schools because they don’t find a set of compatible friends, or because they miss their friends from home. Some change because they feel too pressured, or due to health reasons. Some might hate the food. Some might attend a school to play a particular sport, only to injure themselves after school’s begun. There are probably other reasons to change schools, these are only off the top of my head.</p>
<p>I was able to find this school-reported information on Thacher - Princeton Review for Beijing (go figure). Thacher’s attrition rate is 2%; I think that’s the lowest of any top boarding school. The article also details how many kids applied to Thacher over the last three years vs. a competitive school and what school the child chose. I don’t know if this latter data was culled from students’ applications, which would make it somewhat suspicious to me, or from another more objective source. The attrition rate is factual.</p>
<p>[::</a> The Princeton Review Beijing](<a href=“http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:wf1T2-H0A_MJ:www.tprbeijing.com/cha/news/show.php%3Fid%3D119+“princeton+review”+thacher+attrition+rate&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a]::”>http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:wf1T2-H0A_MJ:www.tprbeijing.com/cha/news/show.php%3Fid%3D119+“princeton+review”+thacher+attrition+rate&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a)</p>
<p>Yes, but Thacher has far fewer top boarding schools in its immediate area. </p>
<p>If a student wanted to change schools in Massachusetts, for example–from Deerfield, say, there are many fine schools competing for that student within reasonable driving distance. I think that plays into attrition rates.</p>
<p>Aside from the emotional toll, it would be very upsetting to pay the tuition in advance and have a child leave a school after just a few weeks. Does it really happen very often?
I wonder if it’s more of a kid-specific issue (not ready for the boarding experience?) rather than a reflection on any given school.</p>
<p>There might be a couple of other reasons Thacher has a low attrition rate. 1) Their admission team identifies and selects kids that are a good match for the school, and 2) those kids and their parents are happy with the Thacher education.</p>
<p>When there are so many possible explantions - “good and bad” - for either a high or a low attrition rate, attrition rate doesn’t really have a significant meaning, does it?</p>
<p>I believe it does. Attrition during the school year can effect tuition insurance premiums.</p>
<p>I would be surprised if attrition is solely a function of the vagaries of individual students. There is undoubtedly an institutional component that is a product of how well the school sets and meets expectations. Perhaps Thacher does a particularly good job of defining what makes it a unique or valuable experience and then delivers on it. 2% certainly seems like a low figure and something to promote. </p>
<p>My sole point of comparison would be Andover’s class of '09, in which 90% of the students that entered in '05 as potential 4 year students ultimately received a diploma from PA. That works out to a 2.6% annual attrition rate. I don’t know if that would be raised or lowered by factoring in 1, 2 and 3 year students. </p>
<p>As for Thacher’s high yield overall and against leading East Coast prep schools that doesn’t surprise me. I’d imagine their applicant pool is heavily weighted toward the western part of the U.S. and thus they enjoy the home field advantage of offering a strong education closer to home, with far less competition of similar quality.</p>
<p>When our daughter did revisit days, this was a question we asked. The admissions offices were very helpful and all gave us the statistics when we asked.</p>
<p>We have been told by Admissions officers at two of the HADES schools that their recent attrition rates have been under 2%, closer to 1.5% in one case.</p>