Case Study: Wayland Baptist University increases term-to-term student retention with Anthology Retention Coaching

Leveraging actionable data to increase student retention

Wayland Baptist University (WBU), a four‑year private university with about 5,000 students across a main campus, multiple satellites, and an online campus, faced the common higher‑education challenge of improving student retention. To intervene proactively with at‑risk students and gather reliable retention data, WBU engaged Anthology and implemented Anthology Retention Coaching alongside existing Anthology tools like Blackboard Learn and predictive analytics.

Anthology delivered a data‑driven retention coaching program (Nov 2019–Winter 2021) that used daily risk scores from Blackboard Data to tailor outreach by risk level, combining phone, text, and email touches with holistic coaching and campus referrals. The coached cohort registered for Spring 2020 at a rate seven percentage points higher than a matched control group, meeting the program’s 6–8 point goal and producing quantitative and qualitative insights WBU can use to guide future student‑success efforts — all provided by Anthology.

Wayland Baptist University

Patricia M. Ritschel-Trifilo

Director of WBUonline