The Division of Student Engagement and Enrollment Services at Old Dominion University (ODU) submitted a Request for Assistance to examine the challenges sophomore students face that can lead to attrition. A doctoral research team conducted a exploratory, sequential, mixed-methods study consisting of a literature review, focus groups and interviews…

Persistence is a major issue facing students, particularly those who are both female and from underrepresented ethnic minorities (URM). A closer look at the variables affecting their commitment and capacity for continuing the pursuit of their goal allows us to better design support systems that bolster persistence. This study tests a structural…

Many subareas share a common interest in students' "motivational resilience," defined broadly as patterns of action that allow students to constructively deal with, overcome, recover, and learn from encounters with academic obstacles and failures. However, research in each of these areas often progresses in relative isolation, and…

Understanding the multidimensional process of college student retention and success and faculty's pivotal role in making a positive difference can be daunting without an easily adaptable organizing framework. Although classic models of college student attrition provided an essential, valuable foundation and a guiding framework for early nursing…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) represent an economical and practical way for institutions to equitably offer research experiences to large numbers of students. Although the benefits of CUREs are well documented, most CURE models are not guided by theory and are discipline specific, which limits their application. We used a…

In this qualitative study, a proposed organizing framework of college and career readiness for secondary students with disabilities was developed based on a synthesis of extant research articulating student success. The original proposed framework included six domains representing academic and nonacademic skills associated with college and career…

Higher education institutions are often concerned about retention rates, particularly among underprepared students. This study examines the effects of Counselors providing Resources, Integration, Skill Development, and Psychosocial Support (CRISP), which is a low-cost counseling model focused on increasing the academic success and retention of…

As the next generation of college students prepare to embark on institutions of higher education, colleges and universities are faced with significant budget cuts and state expectations for increased fiscal efficiencies and student graduation rates. A greater emphasis is being placed on improving methods for attracting new students and retaining…

Institutions of higher education have a primary concern regarding the success and attrition rates of the students. When these items begin to decline, it becomes necessary to ask why. This study looks at one identified element which is the increased role of adjunct faculty. The study specifically addresses the adjunct faculty training and…

The Strategic Universal Design for Learning Course Development (S-UDLCD™) Faculty & Institutional Evaluation System (2023) is a research-based framework for assessing faculty performance, enhancing student retention, and improving institutional effectiveness. Unlike traditional models, this system integrates predictive analytics, student…

The primary theoretical tradition in the study of college retention has been sociological. A review and synthesis of common themes of development among traditional-age, college students suggests that a developmental perspective on the retention of youth in college may have more to offer than the dominant sociological paradigm. This article argues…

With funding from the National Science Foundation in 2014, the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) launched a five-year project to demonstrate the efficacy of regional ecosystems of community colleges, four-year higher education institutions, and STEM-driven business in facilitating the retention and persistence of students in STEM fields. This…

This report demonstrates the power of business-higher education partnerships to create new kinds of STEM pathways that provide educational opportunity and economic mobility for underrepresented students. With funding from the National Science Foundation in 2014, the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) launched a five-year project to demonstrate…

As higher education institutions develop fully online course programs to provide better access for the non-traditional learner, there is increasing interest in identifying students who may be at risk of attrition and poor performance in these online course programs. In our study, we investigate the effectiveness of an online orientation course in…

In an era of increasingly hyped Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that seem to evoke feelings of both promise and peril for higher education, many institutions are struggling to find their niche among top-tier Ivy League schools offering courses to thousands of participants for free. While the effectiveness of MOOCs in terms of learning outcomes…