Research has yielded much evidence that investing in postsecondary interventions increases retention and success for Hispanic/Latinx undergraduates. This study examines one such intervention, funded by Title V and implemented at a large public Hispanic-Serving Institution, developed to improve semester-to-semester retention. Faculty and peer…

Approximately 30% of students who enter the postsecondary education system do so through 2-year colleges. The majority of these students intend to earn a bachelor's degree, but most leave college before earning a diploma from a 4-year institution. The discrepancy between bachelor's degree aspirations and degree attainment rates of students who…

While mindfulness intervention research is prevalent, it is limited in (1) relation to college students' grade point average (GPA) and retention and (2) minimum dosage recommended for the intervention. This repeated-measures quasi-experimental nonequivalent control groups study investigated differences in mindfulness, stress, flourishing, GPA, and…

This longitudinal study examines (a) whether perceptions of ethnic discrimination during the first weeks of college predicted later school belonging among first-year college students of color (N = 638) attending a predominantly White institution (PWI), (b) whether school belonging, in turn, predicted retention to the second year, and (c) whether…

Student retention is a critical issue for universities, and nearly half of the students who start degree programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) do not complete them. The current study tracks the progress of STEM students taking part in an entry-to-graduation program designed to build community, provide academic and…

University and college leaders are tasked with enhancing student outcomes with fewer resources. Student retention is one such key outcome of interest for many policy makers as well as for university administrators. Over the years, administrators have turned to High Impact Practices (HIPs) such as Learning Communities (LCs) to aid in retention.…

Social integration (i.e., feeling a sense of belonging, involvement, support, or connectedness) is an important factor in university student retention, especially among students of color from underrepresented groups. Despite theoretical models and correlational evidence pointing to the relevance of these social experiences, few studies have…

In this program evaluation study, we analyzed the impact of interpersonal validation and participation in living-learning communities (LLC) on retention and GPA via regression and propensity score matching. The LLCs were designed to improve outcomes for underrepresented, low-income and first-generation students at a Midwestern regional public…

This study examined whether first-time full-time freshman students' sense of purpose predicted their progress towards a degree. Freshman students (N = 421, 62.2% females) completed self-report measures of sense of purpose and academic commitments within the first month of starting college; a year later, the data on first-year progress towards a…

Online student retention remains a problem for many colleges and universities. Retention models developed for residential students also explain the contribution to retention resulting from connecting online students with other students and the daily life of the university. Social media has been proposed as a way to engage online students to create…

The authors examined three motivational factors (first-year grade expectations, present-focused time perspective, and future-focused time perspective) as predictors of achievement and retention outcomes for students (N = 844) in their first semester at a predominately Hispanic-serving community college, accounting for student background…

This exploratory, descriptive study examined trends associated with Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise) student stop out, reenrollment, and persistence to a credential upon reenrollment. For the 2006-2017 cohorts, 78% were retained from first to second year. Inferential models suggested that first-year stop out was mainly correlated to students' high…

This longitudinal study evaluated the efficacy of a summer bridge program (SBP) and other support services on college graduation rates at a small liberal arts school in Purchase, NY. Financially disadvantaged students (n = 136) receiving a scholarship and a summer bridge curriculum within the Manhattanville Achievement Program were compared to…

Despite the importance of obtaining a university degree, retention rates remain a concern for many universities. This longitudinal study provides a multi-domain examination of first-year student characteristics and behaviors that best predict which students graduate. Graduation status was assessed seven years after students entered university.…

Ample literature on the retention of undergraduate students is available. However, information on the retention of postgraduate students in doctoral research is not abundant, especially when the population comprises working adult students studying on a part-time basis. This article aims to explore factors that influence retention in this group of…