Skip to main content
Article
An Examination of Persistence Research through the Lens of a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework
Journal of College Student Development (2009)
  • Robert D Reason, Pennsylvania State University
Abstract

Arguably, student retention has been the primary goal for higher education institutions for several decades. Certainly, it has been the focus of much research effort among higher education scholars. Unfortunately, efforts to improve retention seem to be ineffective; attrition rates have endured despite significant efforts to close them (ACT, 2004b; Braxton, Brier, & Steele, 2007; Terenzini, Cabrera, & Bernal, 2001). Notwithstanding the emphasis placed on student retention, decades of research, and countless institutional initiatives, slightly over half of students who begin a bachelor’s degree program at a four year college or university will complete their degree at that same institution within six years (Berkner, He, & Cataldi, 2002). During the 1990s, while some colleges and universities certainly improved their retention of rates, in the aggregate student graduation rates changed little. Students enrolling in a four-year institution in the 1995–1996 academic year, for example, were no more likely to complete a baccalaureate degree five years later than were their counterparts who entered during the 1989–1990 academic year (Horn & Berger, 2004).

Publication Date
November, 2009
Citation Information
Robert D Reason. "An Examination of Persistence Research through the Lens of a Comprehensive Conceptual Framework" Journal of College Student Development Vol. 50 Iss. 6 (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robert_reason/7/