Early university dropout remains a major concern for higher education, particularly amid expanded access, diverse student profiles, and institutional efforts to promote persistence. This study evaluates predictive models of early dropout at a Chilean university using ten entry cohorts from 2014 to 2023 and an analytical sample of 22,485 students. Only enrollment-time information was used, and dropout was defined as leaving before the second academic year. The strategy combined within-cohort harmonization of admission scores, leave-one-cohort-out temporal validation, and comparison of ridge logistic regression, XGBoost, and a mixed logistic model with cohort-level random intercepts. XGBoost showed the best overall performance in Brier score, log-loss, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC), area under the precision–recall curve (PR-AUC), and risk concentration in the top 10%, although differences with ridge regression were small. Entry data provide a useful, moderate signal for early-warning systems and student-support strategies, while preserving methodological transparency and feasibility for university management.
Evaluating academic support is frequently complicated by student selection bias. To provide an actionable framework for student retention, this study compares the causal impact of two uniformly trained peer tutoring methods offered concurrently within identical courses ( n = 6,731). To isolate the true effect of the interventions, data were analyzed using an Average Treatment Effect in the Overlap Population propensity score-weighted framework—a rigorous statistical technique that balances preexisting student characteristics to mimic a randomized trial. Analyzing dosages across one-, three-, and six-sessions revealed stark differences in outcomes. Small group tutoring failed to improve grades, with isolated sessions indicating a negative “desperation visit” effect. Conversely, Supplemental Instruction-adjacent tutoring significantly improved grades after just three sessions ( p < .001), remaining highly robust to unmeasured confounding (E-value = 34.86). Furthermore, sustained participation in both methods neutralized severe academic deficits. Ultimately, this study provides vital quantitative evidence that structural design dictates tutoring efficacy, guiding institutional resource allocation.
Drawing on Tinto's integration framework, Bean's attrition model, and culturally inclusive perspectives on belonging and campus environments, this study tests whether increases in holistic support intensity were associated with student retention and completion recovery after the pandemic-era 2020 break. Using a national Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) institution-year panel of U.S. four-year colleges (2015-2024), we estimate fixed-effects models linking student-services spending per full-time-equivalent student (FTE) to full-time retention and six-year completion. We triangulate institutional findings with Healthy Minds Study (HMS) aggregate trends (2019-2025). Support intensity rose across sectors; retention improved modestly; completion declined. Lagged support was positively associated with retention in the weighted primary model, but sensitivity checks support cautious interpretation. Results suggest that support expansion mitigated attrition pressure while recovery remained incomplete under sustained demand.
Male students are more likely than female students to delay college entry. In male culture that widely expects stoicism, the delay decision among male students and its risks often go unnoticed. This study investigated the link between college delay—a “silent input” in such culture—and male student persistence through the third year of study. Drawing from the 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal study (BPS:12/17), the authors analyzed a sample of 4,440 male students at four-year higher education institutions (HEIs). Using descriptive and inferential statistics (propensity score matching [PSM] and quasi-maximum likelihood estimation [QMLE]), the authors found a high dropout rate among male delayers and a negative relationship between college delay and persistence. High school grade point average (GPA), household income, degree expectations, and academic integration quality positively predicted persistence, whereas attending an open admission institution had the opposite influence. These findings highlight the critical need to understand the academic challenges faced by male students and to identify practice and research directions for enhancing their college enrollment and success.
This study examines engineering identity, sense of belonging, and career commitment as predictors of academic performance and persistence among early-career engineering majors. Students enrolled in introductory engineering courses at a four-year Hispanic-Serving Institution in the U.S. Southwest were surveyed, and their responses were later linked to institutional records to obtain semester grade point average (GPA) and next-semester reenrollment outcomes. Our analyses showed that engineering identity significantly predicted higher GPA and greater odds of reenrollment. Specifically, a one-unit increase in engineering identity corresponded to a 46% increase in the odds of retention to the following semester. Sense of belonging and career commitment were strongly correlated with identity but did not independently predict GPA or persistence, and career commitment did not mediate identity effects. Our findings emphasize identity as a key early predictor of achievement and retention in engineering, and highlight the importance of identity-supportive interventions, particularly for first-generation students, in improving performance and retention.
Colleges and universities increasingly devote institutional resources to student veteran support, yet military spouses remain largely invisible in higher education research, policy, and practice. This exclusion may have material consequences, given that military spouses have high rates of higher education participation but relatively low mental health and employment outcomes. Drawing on 20 interviews with military spouse students (MSSs) who matriculated through and beyond their bachelor's degrees, this foundational qualitative study examines how military life shapes MSS educational needs, trajectories, and persistence strategies. We find that the competing demands of the military, family, and higher education create continual academic barriers that threaten MSS retention, requiring significant sacrifice, luck, and strong personal networks to make degree attainment possible. Findings challenge the assumption that steady enrollment reflects the absence of educational disruptions and underscore a need for MSS recognition and support.
This study presents a practice-based inquiry into the development, implementation, and assessment of an International Student Success Model at a R1 private research university in the United States. Grounded in Tinto's interactionalist theory of student departure and Berger and Braxton's organizational attributes model, the study addresses two research questions: why international student success is a critical priority for higher education institutions, and how international undergraduate students perceive the effectiveness of advising strategies and programmatic initiatives designed to facilitate their academic and career success. Drawing on two complementary data sources, a 2022 global survey of 255 academic advisors conducted in partnership with NACADA: The global community for academic advising, and five-year longitudinal program assessment data collected from 2020 to 2024, the study documents both the national need for structured advising frameworks and the measurable outcomes of a five-pillar success model, including improved student retention, academic performance, and career readiness.
Previous research has raised concerns about international students' adjustment and acculturation in U.S. higher education. International students at the institution in the current study had lower grade point averages (GPAs) and retention rates than domestic peers. This study examined whether noncognitive student success factors (e.g., self-efficacy) varied across international student subgroups (e.g., region of origin, English-language proficiency) and whether these factors predicted their GPA. There were meaningful subgroup differences for the noncognitive factors. For example, goal commitment, persistence, self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and institutional commitment differed by region of origin, whereas quality focus, engagement, persistence, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging differed by English-language proficiency. Collectively, the 10 noncognitive factors accounted for 23.3% of the variance in cumulative GPA, with self-efficacy (3.13%) and sense of belonging (4.45%) contributing the most uniquely. These results can guide intentional implementation of programing that addresses these areas of growth for international students.
The experiences of underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs provide valuable insights into improving their retention and academic achievement. This study investigates how Black and Hispanic calculus students describe faculty-student interactions. Four students participated in a demographic survey and follow-up interviews, sharing their experiences with calculus learning. Using thematic coding guided by validation theory, the data revealed instructors' academic practices that either validated or invalidated students' participation in calculus classes. These practices include cultivating in-class conceptual support, promoting collaborative learning spaces, demonstrating out-of-class academic availability, acknowledging and integrating diverse student experiences, and encouraging metacognitive reflection. The findings amplify student voices and offer recommendations for calculus instructors and institutions to enhance persistence, sense of belonging, and academic success among Black and Hispanic students.
Retention rates at two-year colleges are consistently lower than those at four-year colleges, likely due to the higher proportion of nontraditional students who must manage academic and non-academic responsibilities. To improve student success at two-year colleges, educators have offered more flexible course formats than traditional face-to-face courses. This study compared student retention and academic performance across three course formats: 16-week face-to-face, 16-week online, and 5-week online. This study also investigated how the effects of student and course characteristics on student outcomes varied across the course formats. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze the retention rate and academic performance of 22,280 students attending seven community colleges in the Western United States. Results demonstrated that the 5-week online course format yielded the highest retention rate and academic performance. Furthermore, this course format benefited male students, part-time students, and students in non-STEM courses the most in terms of student retention and academic performance.
High university dropout rates have negative outcomes for both students and society. Supportive student cooperation may play an important role in preventing intentions to quit by promoting engagement and reducing loneliness among students. There is a need for more knowledge about the association of student cooperation, academic engagement, loneliness, and intentions to quit. This study, therefore, examined the association between student cooperation and intentions to quit via emotional and behavioral engagement and loneliness. These associations were tested by using latent structural equation modelling with data from a survey conducted among 356 first-year students. The results indicated two separate paths from student cooperation to intentions to quit, one via emotional engagement and the other via loneliness. The findings thus suggest that facilitating cooperation may prevent students' intentions to quit by enhancing emotional engagement and reducing feelings of loneliness.
This study examined the associations between family career influences, resilience, and online academic self-efficacy among first-generation college students (FGCS) and continuing-generation students (N = 211; 62% FGCS; 33% White; 88% female). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses tested the effects of family career influence and resilience on online academic self-efficacy, moderating roles of resilience and FGCS status, and group differences across key variables. Results revealed that resilience was the strongest positive indicator of online academic self-efficacy. Contrary to expectations, career-related family influences were not associated with online academic self-efficacy, and no significant group differences emerged between FGCS and continuing-generation students on key study variables. The positive association between family financial support and online academic self-efficacy was strongest among FGCS with higher resilience. Findings underscored resilience as an internal resource for managing online learning demands and the university initiatives that cultivate resilience to augment students' confidence and academic success in online academic settings.
Prior research has examined the relationships among self-construal, sense of belonging, perceived match, persistence intentions, and demographic factors. However, investigations often overlook the intersecting identities of race, gender, and generation status. Furthermore, little is known about how these demographic factors moderate the relationship between these psychosocial factors and persistence intentions. This study explored self-construal, perceived match, sense of belonging, and persistence intentions at the intersection of race, gender, and generation status. We also examined how these characteristics influence the relationship between these psychosocial factors and persistence intentions. Participants were introductory psychology students (N = 1,496). Three-way analyses of variance revealed one significant three-way interaction for interdependent self-construal, favoring Hispanic continuing-generation (CG) female students over Hispanic CG males, albeit with a small effect size. Additionally, moderation analysis revealed that independent self-construal more strongly influenced persistence intentions among first-generation students than CG students. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
In this study, we explore racial battle fatigue (RBF), cumulative racism-related stress and exhaustion, among Black collegians to further understand Black students' retention. Extant research suggests that RBF adversely impacts Black students' performance, retention, and graduation. Eleven Black undergraduate and graduate students engaged in photo-elicitation to illustrate and describe support strategies that can be leveraged to reduce RBF and promote academic success among Black students. In our findings, we present six images, one category, and four subcategories that convey Black collegians' directives for reducing RBF and promoting academic success: hosting discussions and forums, engaging in allyship, revising institutional policies and practices, and building intentional connections. Of note, the category revising institutional policies and practices was conveyed through dialogue only. We share implications for research and practice to inform higher education scholars' and practitioners' efforts to (re)create conditions conducive to reducing RBF and improving student success among Black students.
This study examined associations between authentic leadership behaviors enacted by faculty in the classroom and academic outcomes among first-time college students at a private, religiously affiliated university. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, data were collected from 113 first-time students and 11 faculty members using the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, along with academic outcomes including midterm and final course grades, first-term grade point average, and persistence to the subsequent semester. Quantitative analyses included correlation, regression, and exploratory classification and regression tree analyses, while open-ended student responses provided contextual insight into classroom engagement and motivation. Results indicated modest but consistent associations between faculty self-ratings of authentic leadership and academic outcomes. Student-rated leadership measures were less strongly associated with outcomes, and qualitative responses suggested student motivation was shaped primarily by factors beyond instructional leadership. Findings highlight authentic leadership as a useful framework for examining classroom-level faculty behaviors in first-year student success research contexts.
Doctoral persistence in the United States remains a significant concern, yet the experiences of Asian doctoral students remain understudied. This scoping review analyzed 26 studies that included Asian doctoral participants to identify factors that shape their persistence. Guided by Perna and Thomas's student success conceptual model, findings show that most reviewed studies (77%) focused on academic environment and relationships, while only 23% considered family-related influences. Additionally, nearly all studies (n = 25) included Asian doctoral students with other racial/ethnic groups, except for one study that only sampled Asian doctoral students. In general, most studies (n = 25) treat Asian students as a monolithic group without considering the heterogeneity and uniqueness of Asian doctoral students. Several future study ideas to address the diverse needs of Asian doctoral students are discussed.
University success is often tied to student outcomes, creating broad incentives to support student success and retention; however, current interventions fall short in helping combat student burnout. This research explores how two improvable student characteristics-psychological capital and perceived social support-influence stress, burnout, and academic success. We surveyed 189 first-semester students who consented to sharing their grade reports. Moderated structural equation model testing revealed that psychological capital can directly reduce student burnout, improve academic performance, and buffer stressed students against burnout and that students with high perceptions of social support are less likely to experience potential stressors as stressful. As universities strive to support students' well-being through university-driven supports, we see potential for students themselves to ameliorate this problem and discuss potential interventions to build psychological capital and perceived social support to improve students' ongoing coping and energizing efforts and success and persistence within school and in workplaces post-graduation.
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between subjective well-being, various motivation sources, and dropout propensity among graduate business students in Brazil. A quantitative survey was conducted with a questionnaire (N = 212), and data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling, Partial Least Squares, and analysis of variance (unidimensional and Welch tests). Results revealed a negative relationship between subjective well-being and autonomous motivation sources with dropout intention, while higher demotivation levels were strongly linked to increased dropout intention in graduate studies. Externally regulated or introjected motivations showed no statistical significance with the dependent variable. This research fills a gap in the literature by empirically examining the determinants of graduate student dropout. Its relevance lies in identifying key variables for successful academic and personal development in graduate education. The study is innovative for its theoretical and methodological approach, including robustness testing.
Colleges and universities increasingly enroll military veterans whose transitions into higher education are complex and often poorly supported by systems designed for traditional-age students. While research has richly documented veterans' lived experiences, far less attention has been given to early indicators that signal academic struggle or persistence. This conceptual article introduces the Veteran Predictive Support Model, a proactive framework that applies Schlossberg's Transition Theory to identify early risk markers among student veterans. Using secondary analysis of a 2024 qualitative dataset (n = 10), the article reframes situational overload, support misalignment, identity strain, and strategy exhaustion as predictive rather than retrospective transition themes. The article also proposes the creation of a Veteran Transition & Success Office, a centralized, academically integrated unit designed to coordinate advising, predictive analytics, and trauma-informed pedagogical practices. Implications for faculty, advising, disability services, and institutional policy are discussed, along with directions for future research.
