College Counseling and Student Retention: Research Findings and Implications for Counseling Centers

College counseling centers may come under increasing scrutiny by administrators regarding how their services contribute to student retention. College counselors can use data to demonstrate a positive influence of counseling on retention, but they also need to educate administrators that student retention should be a consideration among many when evaluating the efficacy of services. The author reviews findings from studies on the impact of college counseling on retention and addresses implications for counseling centers. University and college counseling services have long a vital role in the overall mission of higher education (Boyd et al., 2003; Meadows, 2000). The primary function of college counseling centers continues to be the provision of direct counseling interventions to students whose personal problems interfere with their ability to function in the academic environment. Recent studies (Vermeersch et al., 2004; Whipple et al., 2003) provide evidence of positive outcomes for this aspect of counseling services. College counseling services also support the educational mission of colleges and universities by providing consultation and outreach programming to students, faculty, and staff; teaching in academic programs; supervising counselor trainees; and conducting research on a variety of topics related to student development. For maximum effectiveness, counseling centers also need to respond to general challenges and changes in higher education (Hodges, 2001; Meadows, 2000). One of the biggest challenges has been for counseling centers to demonstrate that their services significantly contribute to student retention (Bishop, 1990; Garni, 1980; Mattox, 2000). College counselors have thus far devoted relatively little attention to this issue, despite the fact that student attrition and retention have long been a concern in higher education (Astin, 1975; Cope & Hannah, 1975; Noel, Levitz, & Saluri, 1986). According to Tinto (1993), almost half of the students entering 2-year colleges and more than one fourth of the students entering 4-year colleges leave at the end of their 1st year, and more than 40% of all college entrants leave college without earning a degree. Given the contemporary economic climate, college administrators are likely to seek increasing accountability from both academic departments and student support services for the retention of students. In simple terms, anything that can affect enrollment can in turn affect university budgets and the allocation of resources; thus, college administrators may increasingly rely on retention data in evaluating the effectiveness of counseling services. Counseling services, like other university programs, could undergo cost-effectiveness analysis based on student retention data (Giddan & Weiss, 1990). Data demonstrating that counseling has a positive influence on retention can be used proactively to inform college administrators about the value of counseling services. However, using retention data as the primary means of evaluating counseling effectiveness is problematic. Because retention is an increasingly used administrative measure of counseling services, this article is intended to provide a review of the research on the impact of counseling on retention and to discuss the implications for counseling centers. Research Findings on Student Retention as a Function of Counseling Despite the potential importance of counseling in the retention of students (Bishop, 1990), there is limited research on the relationship. Early studies showed a strong relationship between counseling and academic success (Campbell, 1965) and between counseling and higher graduation rates (Frank & Kirk, 1975). However, as Wilson, Mason, and Ewing (1997) have noted, earlier studies did not always differentiate psychological from academic or vocational counseling. Indeed, most of the participants in the Frank and Kirk study appeared to be in counseling for academic and vocational issues. …