Student Success and Retention
Belonging Builds Persistence
When students feel seen, supported, and connected, success follows. We help you make that culture real.

Our Approach
Carnegie partners with colleges and universities to strengthen student success and retention through research, data-informed strategy, inclusive campus culture, and measurable impact. From first-year persistence to graduation, we help institutions keep the promises made at enrollment: connection, support, and opportunity.
Our comprehensive solutions, including Moving the Needle and Student Success Assessments, integrate research, collaboration, and cultural alignment to improve retention and elevate outcomes across your campus.
Solutions That Strengthen Every Student Connection
Moving the Needle
Engage your full campus in a two-year, data-informed partnership that transforms culture, builds belonging, and improves retention. Through workshops, leadership development, and measurable goals, this initiative helps institutions turn insight into sustained impact.
Student Success Assessments
Our comprehensive student success assessments analyze the full student experience—from admissions to graduation—to uncover barriers to belonging and persistence. The result: a strategic roadmap with actionable steps that strengthen retention and student connection.
Student Success Modeling
Powered by predictive analytics and higher education retention research, our modeling reveals the academic, financial, and social factors most tied to persistence at your institution. We help you design targeted interventions that improve outcomes for every learner.
Re-Engagement Strategy
We help institutions re-enroll and support stop-outs using data-driven outreach and high-touch communication. By identifying motivation barriers and tailoring re-engagement pathways, we help students complete their journey and strengthen your enrollment and revenue.
How it Works
Analyze the Student Experience
We begin with deep student success research and retention analysis, reviewing institutional data, student surveys, and campus processes to pinpoint the factors that most influence persistence, belonging, and completion at your institution.
Build Campuswide Commitment
Our team facilitates campus-wide collaboration through leadership workshops, faculty sessions, and student listening, ensuring buy-in and shared ownership of your student success and retention goals from day one.
Create a Data-Informed Roadmap
Drawing on insights from Moving the Needle and Student Success Assessments, we create a tailored roadmap that connects data to action, aligning academic support, financial strategy, and culture change into a single, measurable plan for student success.
Maintain a Culture of Belonging
We help you institutionalize success systems that last. Through ongoing monitoring, predictive modeling, and culture-building initiatives, we ensure retention gains continue year after year and that every student feels connected, supported, and equipped to thrive.
Ready to Get Started?
Revitalizing Campus Spaces Builds Community and Catalyzes Growth
The University of the Ozarks launched a strategic plan to enrich student life, strengthen connections with its community, and reverse more than a decade of declining enrollment.
Featured Student Success and Retention Case Study
“The genius of our master plan with Carnegie is that it was drawn in pencil, not stone. It set a vision but gave us the flexibility to adapt. That’s why, a decade later, we’re still right on track and able to seize opportunities as they come.”
Richard L. Dunsworth
President
University of the Ozarks
The Search + Social Media Habits of Prospective Graduate Students
Graduate student marketing in higher education has undergone significant shifts in recent years. We surveyed over 750 graduate students about how the internet informs their search for a graduate program.
Our Thoughts on Student Success and Retention
By Joretta Nelson
By Emma Jones
Build Your Integrated Support System for Student Success
Turn Student Success Into Institutional Strength
There’s never been a more important time to ensure student success and institutional strength. Let’s build the culture, systems, and strategies that help every student—and your institution—thrive.
