<p>The caliber of the typical student at the top LAC’s is stronger in terms of academic readiness, perseverance, tenacity and financial stability. With that kind of pool to begin with, you have a population that is less likely to run into problems than a lower tier school where it is more likely that you will have students that are poorer, less academically prepared or more likely to have emotional/learning problems that could derail success. Therefore you are going to have better retention at a higher tier/higher retention rate school without the school having to do anything to ensure that students stay. Comparing average SAT/ACT scores at a given college and retention rates is interesting. I don’t have any hard data,so here goes… It is just my opinion and observation that the lower the average SAT/ ACT at a given school, the lower the retention rate. For example, our state flagship has the highest SAT averages at a 95% retention rate, the middle tier school have about an 80% retention rate and the lowest tier of the state schools, about a 65% retention rate. SAT correlates best with family income, suggesting that economics can play a role here. I do not have a study on this, correlation is not causation, etc but, in actuality, what are retention rates really telling us?</p>