First Year Student Retention

Great Essays
More often than in the past I education needs to meet the growing demands of the college system that government. Many institutions of higher education have been placed under some form of performance-based metrics. Of these performance-based reviews, completion and retention have become the focus of many institutions. This push for retention has made many institutions assess how they retain students and has prompted new initiatives to aid them. When looking at retention it raises two main questions. Who is the most at risk students and what is necessary to retain them.
Review of Literature
Literature is available in different facets in regards to retention of college students. In focusing my research on the retention of First time in college
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Community colleges make up the other half of Higher Education and in increasing the populations they have access to. In the research conducted by Fike and Fike they took a serious look at what factors impact retention of first year students. They examined multiple variables to determine if they could pinpoint what those factors were. As retention was examined over numerous variables the researcher concluded that institutions need contribute to supportive retention efforts. The study found that developmental education is highly necessary for retention ideally in math and writing. It also found that reading and math developmental education success is a good indicator of retention. The researchers also mention that findings indicated that TRIO support services and Financial Aid are predictors for student retention. First generations students were found have low persistence in higher education and students with parents having some college and number of courses was a predictor of retention. (Fike &Fike, …show more content…
Implication for further research would be to examine high school to college initiatives for first generation in college students. Orientation and retention efforts for nontraditional FTIC. Study habits would be the same as a first generation student however, more factors would affect the nontraditional student. Their priorities of a nontraditional student would be to their families, work, veterans and active duty military would present multiple stressors. More than the average traditional FTIC student. Consequently, the non-traditional student is less likely to engage in standard retention practice either due to the inability or the lack of inclusion. They typically do not get involved in clubs and organizations; they are less likely to reach out for help; even if the resources are available i.e. tutoring or counseling. Efforts designed for their retention should be explored. There is a growing population of non-traditional FTIC students. The emphasis on their retention is vitally important to the future of their education. Investigation into the best strategies and intitativies that will meet first time in college, non-traditional students at a common ground are worth the

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