Time-Varying Effects of Academic and Social Integration on Student Persistence for First and Second Years in College

Abstract

While a myriad of studies focused on the first-year student retention, less known is what happens to students during their second year in college. Coupled with the most recent national data, this study investigated the effects of student and institutional characteristics on first- and second-year student persistence behavior. In particular, this study examined time-varying effects of certain factors, such as academic and social integration on student retention. The study data included 7,571 first-time freshman students enrolled in public and private 4-year institutions. Using multilevel logistic regression, study findings suggest that academic integration was only effective to retaining students for the first year and was ineffective to promote second-year student persistence.