Merrimack College

The result

Merrimack College was “able to retain students who joined the NSLS at a rate of 95 percent,” as published by the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS).

What 95 percent means in this sector

Private nonprofit four-year institutions already retain students at higher rates than any other sector. The median full-time retention rate is 77 percent, against 75 percent at public four-years, 71 percent across all degree-granting institutions, and 63 percent at public two-year institutions (IPEDS, Fall 2023: the fall 2022 cohort returning in fall 2023, across 1,240 private nonprofit four-year institutions).

In a sector where the median is already this high, the students still leaving are the hardest to reach, which is where retention work gets difficult. At a tuition-dependent institution each student retained is a multi-year revenue line and a recruitment cost already spent, so a strong subgroup retention figure matters even when the institution-wide number looks healthy.

The IPEDS medians are full-time, fall-to-fall retention across whole institutions, while the 95 percent describes students who joined the NSLS, so read the two as context for each other rather than a direct comparison.

How the program builds attachment

Attrition at a small or mid-sized private college is rarely about academic capability. It is about fit and attachment: a student who never found their group, never took on a role, and never had a reason beyond coursework to stay. Co-curricular involvement works on exactly that, without new academic infrastructure.

The NSLS journey is five steps: orientation, a two-hour Leadership Training Day, three Speaker Broadcasts, three Success Networking Team meetings, and induction, which usually takes place in a ceremony. That is around ten hours in total, typically one semester. The Success Networking Teams are small peer groups that meet three times during the journey to set goals and hold each other accountable, so every member has a group of peers expecting them at the next meeting.

For a private four-year, the second draw is usually credentialing. The program runs at three levels, Foundations, Advanced, and Executive, and one course at each level (FOL 102, ADV 202, and EXEC 302) carries credit recommendations from ACE and NCCRS. Credit recommendations are not credit: the NSLS states that transferring them varies by institution, and student questions go to your registrar.

Presenting the result on your campus

Members join voluntarily, so some of the 95 percent reflects who chooses to join. The strongest framing is reach: structured involvement connects students who would otherwise be unattached, and attachment is what predicts persistence. Designing your chapter to reach those students, rather than the ones already in four other organizations, is a decision you control.

Planning for a similar campus

Define participation before the term starts, compare against a matched group rather than your institution-wide rate, and disaggregate before you present. On a tuition-dependent campus, retained students converted to net tuition is usually the number that moves a budget conversation, and it is strongest when the retention comparison underneath it is sound.

For sector benchmarks and measurement methods, see our student retention pillar guide and the private colleges segment page.