Northwestern State University of Louisiana has seen an increase in student retention rates over the years. As the new semester begins, keeping students enrolled at NSU is one of the main priorities of faculty and staff.
Vanner Erikson, director of enrollment, said that student retention rates are up to nearly 90 percent from the 2024-2025 academic year. From Fall 2025 to Spring 2026, NSU is at 88 percent retention rate, which has increased from 70.87% and 71.44%. “We always hope to hit 90 percent, but we set some advantageous goals to be closer to 95 percent,” Erikson said. This goal is something that Erikson wants to focus on in the years to come in order to maintain student enrollment and retention.
Erikson hopes to see even more of an increase in retention by enrolling more new freshmen, transfer students, graduate students and readmitted students. “We have more new freshmen than ever in the last four years,” Erikson said.
The affordability of NSU is a contributing factor to the increase in student retention rates. Erikson explained that because NSU is so affordable, students are maintaining their enrollment throughout the academic year. “We’re the second most affordable public school in the state,” Erikson said.
The total cost of attendance at NSU for the 2025-2026 academic year is $5,553-$12,060 for in-state residents and $10,947-$17,454 for out-of-state residents. In comparison, for undergraduate students at Louisiana State University in the 2025-2026 academic year, the estimated yearly direct cost is $27,876 for Louisiana residents and $44,552. For full-time undergraduates at Tulane University in the 2025-2026 academic year, the standard cost of attendance for Louisiana residents is $94,708 and $80,408 for commuters.
Thomas Reynolds, head of the Department of English, Languages, and Cultural Studies and professor of English, said that he has seen an increase of student enrollment within the department. Reynolds explained that this increase primarily has to do with the fact that NSU is a university that prioritizes face-to-face teacher engagement with students.
“I am a part of our apparatus to try to connect with students. We have a student persistence and success committee that intentionally creates events in order to support students. So, in the fall semester we always have a welcome back taco social, and students generally seem to like that,” Reynolds explained. “It is a chance for students and faculty to see each other outside of the classroom, which helps build community.”
Reynolds said that it is more likely for students to stay at NSU if they have more opportunities to feel like they belong within a community.
He also mentioned the high retention rate of the English department. “In our department, we have a really high retention rate. More than 80 percent of the students who ever enter English as a major eventually graduate.”
Sarah McFarland, professor of English, values the importance of making students feel as though they belong on campus. “Our campus community is a place where students belong, and I think that’s a huge part of what can help students feel like NSU can be home for a few years, that they belong here, that they can succeed here. That absolutely affects things like retention rates or continuing to be a student,” McFarland said.
McFarland also explained that students are not only seen as students here at NSU, but also as humans. “You are not anonymous at NSU. You are not just a name on a roster. You are an individual human being with your own story,” McFarland noted.
NSU’s retention rates continue to be high across the board. Factors such as affordability and the campus’ engaging faculty and staff are some of the contributing factors as to why students continue to choose NSU as their home.
