The prevailing theories of student persistence have been developed in Predominantly White Institutional (PWI) contexts. The extent to which these theories--in whole or in part--apply to Minority Serving Institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has not been studied in depth. This study tests a PWI-based theory of…

The "institutional databases audit" addresses common challenges of retention research by viewing existing databases and key surveys as resources for analyzing persistence rates. Such an audit helps verify whether student database elements have theoretically derived research referents. Positive results show that institutions can acquire…

This chapter describes research findings that show a positive relationship between higher order examination questions and core concepts of empirically supported theories of college student persistence for both residential and commuter colleges and universities.

College student retention constitutes a long-standing and critical problem for many colleges and universities. Although the average national rate of first-to-second year persistence stands at 68.5%, rates for types of colleges and universities vary from a low of 56.4% for 2-year public colleges to a high of 81.5% for private PhD-granting…

College student persistence continues to be a vexing problem for colleges and universities. In Rethinking College Student Persistence (2014), Braxton, Doyle, Hartley, Hirshy, Jones, and McLendon explored the indirect role between cultural capital and first-year student persistence. The significance of this role becomes more important when one…

Theoretical modeling has been a widely used tool in the student persistence literature for many years; however, only recently has it been applied to the Historical Black College or University (HBCU) context in an intentional way. We investigated a theory of student persistence in commuter institutions at 2 commuter HBCUs (N = 147 students).…

Fostering a sense of community should be at the center of every housing and residence life professional's efforts. Research conducted by Braxton et al. (2014) revealed that students who are able to identify with their residence hall community, interact with peers in this community, and find solidarity within the community experience an increased…

This article focuses on the cross-national relevance of theories of college student departure formulated by U.S. scholars. Some aspects of U.S. developed theories of college student departure hold some semblance of cross-national relevance. Economic and sociological perspectives provide such aspects. The weighing of costs and benefits inherent in…

College student retention has been and continues to be one of the most important issues facing the higher education community. Despite this importance, little is known about the type and methodological rigor of institutional efforts to increase student retention. This article presents the findings of a study which attempted to gain a clearer…

This article presents seven guidelines to direct professional practice aimed toward the improvement of institutional student retention rates. For each of the seven guidelines, specific recommendations to provide direction to the enactment of the focal guideline are described. These seven guidelines spring from empirical studies of campus-based…

The Strategic Retention Initiative is an administrative practice which involves calling all first-year students. The initiative is guided by an institutional commitment to the well-being of students and represents an institutional investment in student persistence. The development and implementation of the Strategic Retention Initiative was…

Examined how the fulfillment of college expectations affects students' social integration. Path analysis showed that the fulfillment of social expectations for college positively affects both social integration and subsequent institutional commitment; the greater the degree of these, the more likely students will re-enroll in the university. (EV)

In spite of substantial investment in retention in Indiana higher education, there have been only a few well-designed studies that evaluate the effects of these interventions.

The influence of student problems, which are often cited by students as reasons for withdrawal, is compared with the influence of constructs derived from Tinto's student attrition model. The findings suggest that data from post-hoc attrition studies should be used cautiously. (Author/MLW)

Explored first- to second-semester persistence of first-time, full-time freshmen (n=411) at a public four-year institution, focusing upon Tinto's concept of separation. The dimensions of (1) support and (2) rejection of attitudes and values were found to influence persistence in a statistically significant way. (DB)