This paper reviews the research done on the college persistor and dropout. Section I reviews studies that tried to determine how a student's personality affected his persistence in college or his leaving before graduation, his social life, his ability to adapt to the college environment, his classroom behavior, and his ability to seek and accept help. Section II considers the research concerned with the relationship of the motivation and interest of the college student to his college success, including the establishment of occupational and educational goals and the role of the family and cultural background. Section III discusses the investigations of the relationship of scholastic aptitude scores and dropout rate. Section IV reviews research on the role that study skills and attitudes play in college persistence. (AF)