Understanding of the persistence of student-athletes in athletics at the D-III level is complex. This research study investigated the issue of student-athlete retention by focusing on Division III (D-III) student-athlete persistence in athletics by asking the following research question, "To what extent do freshman student-athletes persist in their participation in intercollegiate athletics at the D-III level?" Research into the use of seasons of participation by NCAA D-III student-athletes was guided by a quantitative research method which provided insight into whether sport, sport type, gender, or institutional type played a role in the continued participation of a student-athlete. Data analysis required the use of both factorial ANOVA and independent samples t-test. The sampling for this study consisted of 13,332 student-athletes from 75 NCAA D-III institutions, 15 public and 60 private. Four cohorts of freshman student-athletes were tracked from the fall 2007 to the spring 2015 to identify their persistence rate in athletics. The four cohorts were taken from the varsity athletic programs of men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's cross-country. The findings of this study indicate that D-III student-athletes are averaging two and a half years of athletic participation with a third of those student-athletes dropping out of athletic participation after their first year and another third completing all four years of their athletic eligibility. The research also revealed that the variables of athletic program, sport type, and institutional type was a statistically significant factor on student-athlete persistence while gender showed to be statistically insignificant. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]