At public Ph.D. granting institutions in the United States, approximately 22% of first-year college students do not return for their sophomore year (ACT, 2011). It was hypothesized that higher levels of sense of belonging would be related to self-reported intention to persist as well as actual second-year retention. It was expected that higher levels of positive motivational attitudes would be related to intention to persist and second-year retention. When sense of belonging and motivational attitudes were included in the same prediction model, sense of belonging was no longer significantly related to intention to persist or second-year retention. (Contains 2 tables.)