Tinto developed a model to predict the attrition process. The model respects a longitudinal perspective and regards persistence as a function of the quality of a student's interactions with the academic and social systems of the college. Tinto asserts that the two primary factors related to student withdrawal are the personal characteristics of the student and the nature of the student's interaction with the college. Webb (1988) reviewed the Tinto model for its applicability in understanding freshman persistence/exit from two-year colleges and concluded that the model is inadequate to identify potential dropouts at the onset of their academic careers. The inability of Tinto's Model to detect potential dropouts may be explained in part by the model's rather narrow treatment of students' personal characteristics, i.e., intentions and commitments. To enhance this dimension of the model, the Locus of Control Scale by Nowicki and Strickland (1974) was included. It was hypothesized that this assessment would lead to earlier identification of potential dropouts. The primary objective of the research reported in this paper was to investigate the addition of locus of control, emphasizing the importance of internality, as part of the personal characteristics in Tinto's Model (1987, 1993). It is hypothesized that internality will predict: commitment, academic integration, persistence, and achievement. Persistence was defined as completing the course; achievement was defined as the final grade in an introductory psychology course. Academic integration and commitment levels were assessed using an instrument developed Pascarella and Terenzini (1980).