In an effort to help students overcome their academic, social, or personal issues that could be affecting their studies, Ursinus College has launched the Ursinus Institute for Student Success, writes Susan Snyder for Philly.com.

It was founded earlier this year after the school noticed a dip in the percentage of freshmen returning as sophomores. Last fall, the number dipped from its relatively consistent 87.8 percent over the last four years to just 84.4 percent.

While the difference is not huge, as it only represents around 12 students, the competitive nature of the higher education sector prompted Ursinus to act.

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“Over the last two or three enrollment cycles we started to see a bit more fragility in our retention rates,” commented Ursinus president Brock Blomberg. “Last year we created a retention advisory group, which was a mix of faculty and staff. This year we upped the ante and created the institute.”

The institute has a full-time staff of six along with 100 peer tutors. They are studying the school’s data to find out why students are not returning. The goal is to determine some of the warning signs, and see what can be done to alter programs and services to reverse this trend.

Read more about the new institute at Philly.com by clicking here.

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Top photo credit: moreuman maran, christina, angier via photopin (license)