This project identified statistically significant predictors of first-year retention among 1991-92 freshmen who were enrolled in a rural midwestern comprehensive college. Results of a step-wise discriminant analysis indicated that college grade point average (GPA) was the best overall predictor of retention of first-year students (n=376). Results from semi-structured interviews with 12 of the students suggest that personological factors mediate the effects of cognitive variables. Nine factors affecting college selection and persistence were identified, such as financial concerns, college proximity to hometowns, student goals, emotional support from family and friends, social integration into campus life, and academic difficulty. Decisive factors included parental encouragement and parental financial and emotional support. The study concludes that student GPAs may be convenient but superficial substitutes for pervasive "internal" (personality) dimensions like developmental maturity. An appendix contains interview questions. (Contains approximately 90 references.) (JDD)