Most of working adults enrolled in distance educational programs do not persist to complete the program. Distance education is experiencing an attrition problem. A quantitative study was conducted to investigate the relationship between effective facilitation and students' retention. The sample consisted of 89 students. The participants were enrolled in the Information Technology program in Arab Open University (AOU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The study was guided by the question what is the relationship between effective facilitation and students' retention in a distance education program? Descriptive analysis and Spearman's correlation were conducted. The study identified from the female learners' perspectives that the role of the student, the role of the facilitator, the course, and the learning outcomes as major factors that relate to attrition in distance education. The research findings may motivate leadership to review the teaching learning practice in distance education. (Abstract by database provider and author)