Improving success and retention in accounting and business undergraduate courses. Make the call.

In the ‘demand-driven’ higher education environment an increasingly important issue is student success and retention. Retention rates in open/distance education have generally been lower in comparison with full time, internal study with distance students identified as time poor with competing priorities, and most having work and/or family commitments. The distance mode of study and resultant lack of connection with a physical environment can further reduce the feeling of belonging to the university. This can result in higher attrition and lower success rates.

This paper reports on the effectiveness of an intervention designed to improve success and retention of students in both distance and internal classes who had repeat fails for a subject in their Business or Accounting course. The findings indicate an intervention which engages with students who have repeated fails at all stages of degree completion can improve retention rates and result in higher levels of student performance.