Abstract
Students with merit-based scholarships and strong high school GPAs typically have high retention rates. Yet, many high ability students did not need to study in high school, and never developed effective academic skills. Such students may expect to excel in college with the same limited effort. Unfortunately, institutions may unintentionally ignore high ability students when developing retention initiatives. At a mid-sized research university, less than 50% of freshmen who lost their scholarships enrolled for their sophomore year. This study assessed the effectiveness of a Scholarship Retention Program designed to help students maintain scholarship eligibility. Results demonstrated that mandatory interventions for students with low first-semester GPAs were associated with increased final GPAs and scholarship renewal rates. However, voluntary interventions for students with low midterm grades were ineffective. A supplemental survey indicated that students believed the interventions demonstrated the University's care for their success and helped their efforts to keep their scholarships.
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