Institutionalizing Academic Coaching: An Empirical Study of Student Retention at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Abstract

Academic coaching is a viable approach to improving student retention in higher education. In this study, 257 students are tracked to evaluate the effectiveness of InsideTrack coaching, an intervention previously endorsed by randomized experimentation. The data analysis at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) reveals a significant association between coach services and retention outcomes. In addition, this investigation has identified a moderate impact, as evidenced by an effect size, within 7 months. The retention rate tracking also showed a 9% gap between Hispanic students and their peers across other ethnic groups. The local information is triangulated with national data from Excelencia in Education to corroborate research findings in the United States. In differentiating this study from prior work, particular emphasis is placed on the shorter intervention window at CSUB and the applicability of these findings beyond a single context. The discussion of the results is guided by a well-established context, input, process, and product model, illustrating how institutional context can shape coaching outcomes in a broad array of higher education environments.