Improving Minority Student Persistence: An Institutional Factors Approach

Introduction

Retention and attrition rates in higher education are at the forefront of discussions among stakeholders such as students, parents, educators, administration and policy makers. Attrition is a matter with detrimental results for the individual, colleges and universities, and the country as a whole. For example, in today’s knowledge-driven economy, most jobs require some postsecondary education and/or training. Regardless of the type and size of the tertiary institution, retention and attrition issues are common to all. Therefore, these discussions will continue as strategies are developed to encourage students to persist through to graduation.

Over the past four decades, many studies have been conducted in an attempt to identify possible predictors of degree completion. For the most part, studies have been carried out at mid-western and southwestern institutions in the United States (U.S.) where African-American students are in the minority. In addition, the vast majority of studies reported in literature have focused on the use of pre-college predictors such as high school rank, grade point average (GPA), standardized test scores (e.g., SAT/ACT) and socio-economic profile to determine the probability of student success. While these are important factors in the selection of students, they may not reveal much about what an institution can do to retain students once they have been admitted. The objectives of this chapter are to explore the factors of retention and attrition at a small Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and to elucidate how institutional environment impact freshman to sophomore college departure decisions.