Instruction and Academic Support Expenditures: An Investment in Retention and Graduation

Abstract

A long-standing concern of many colleges and universities are low persistence and graduation rates. This study examined how institutions can affect, and potentially improve, persistence and graduation rates by targeting their expenditures toward those activities that have an affect on persistence and graduation. Framed by Tinto's theory of academic departure, the inquiry investigated the relationship between expenditures for instruction and academic support on persistence and graduation rates at 218 universities. The results confirmed Tinto's theory and were able to explain approximately half the variance in persistence and graduation rates among the institutions included in the study. Recommendations for practice are suggested, including using the results of the study to develop resource allocation strategies to enhance persistence and graduation rates.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Astin

A. W.

(1985). Achieving educational excellence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Astin

A. W.

, & Sax

L. J.

(1998). How undergraduates are affected by service participation. Journal of College Student Development, 39, 251–263.

Berger

J. B.

(2001–2002). Understanding the organizational nature of student persistence: Empirically-based recommendations for practice. Journal of College Student Retention, 3, 3–21.

Brinkman

P. T.

, & Morgan

A. W.

(1997). Changing fiscal strategies for planning. In M. W. Peterson, D. D. Dill, L. A. Mets, & Associates, Planning and management for a changing environment (pp. 288–306). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2001). The Carnegie classification of institutions of higher education. Menlo Park, CA: Author.

Eyler

, & Giles

D. E.

Jr. (1999). Where's the service in service learning? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kerr

(2001). The uses of the university. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Kuh

G. D.

(2001–2002). Organizational culture and student persistence: Prospects and puzzles. Journal of College Student Retention, 3, 23–39.

Lenning

O. T.

, & Ebbers

L. H.

(1999). The powerful potential of learning communities. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report (Vol. 26, No. 6). Washington, DC: The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

10.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (1999). Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) [Data file]. Available from United States Department of Education Web site: www.nces.ed.gov/ipeds.

11.

National Center for Education Statistics (2001). Digest of education statistics, 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

12.

Pascarella

E. T.

Terenzini

P. T.

, & Blimling

G. S.

(1994). The impact of residential life on students. In C. C. Schroeder, P. Mable & Associates, Realizing the educational potential of residence halls (pp. 22–52). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

13.

Smart

J. C.

Ethington

C. A.

Riggs

R. O.

, & Thompson

M. D.

(2002). Influences of institutional expenditure patterns on the development of students' leadership competencies. Research in Higher Education, 43, 115–132.

14.

Stringer

W. L.

Cunningham

A. F.

Merisotis

J. P.

Wellman

J. V.

, & O'Brien

C.T.

(1999). Cost, price, and public policy: Peering into the black box of higher education. USAGroup Foundation New Agenda Series. Retrieved August 28, 2001, from www.luminafoundation.org/Publications/newagenda.shtml.

15.

Tinto

(1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

16.

Tinto

(1998). Colleges as communities: Taking research on student persistence seriously. The Review of Higher Education, 21, 167–177.

17.

US News and World Report (2001). America's best colleges, 2001. [Data file]. Available from US News and World Report Web site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex.htm.

18.

Wingspread Group on Higher Education (1993). An American imperative: Higher expectations for higher education. Racine, WI: Johnson Foundation.