As students are asked to share more of the costs of a post-secondary education, the quality of their overall educational experience and perceived return on investment (ROI) are increasingly important. For prospective students and their parents, what they are told they can expect from the student experience at an institution often makes the most influential, genuine case for institutional value. Asking for feedback from students provides a mechanism for monitoring student satisfaction and informing decisions to invest in all areas of student life--academic, social, recreational, etc. Institutions call this type of research by many names, such as "Student Satisfaction and Retention," "Student Climate Assessment," and "Student Life Study." Whatever it is called, this type of research is motivated by common objectives, most often to: (1) Determine the features of an institution that students identify as most important; (2) Correlate these features with student satisfaction and dissatisfaction to understand the reasons why students stay or leave; and (3) Make decisions about where to invest institutional resources to enhance satisfaction with the overall experience and increase student degree completion rates. This document summarizes best practices in student satisfaction and retention research. (Contains 6 tables and 10 figures.)