Calculating Cost-Return for Investments in Student Success

In 2007 and 2008, 13 colleges and universities participated in Investing in Student Success, a project of Jobs for the Future and the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity and Accountability. The pilot, funded by the Walmart Foundation and Lumina Foundation for Education, focused on exploring whether first-year programs designed to improve student retention are a cost-effective investment for colleges and universities.

Calculating Cost-Return for Investments in Student Success, a Jobs for the Future and the Delta Project joint report, introduces the pilot’s featured product: the ISS Cost-Return Calculator. This tool can help campus and program administrators compare the costs of student success programs to the programs’ impact on student retention.