Investigating Sense of Community in First-Year College Students

Association for Experiential Education. 3775 Iris Avenue Suite 4, Boulder, CO 80301. Tel: 866-522-8337; Fax: 303-440-9581; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.aee.org

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4

College Freshmen; Introductory Courses; Social Support Groups; Academic Persistence; School Holding Power; Student Characteristics; Student Adjustment; Intention; Student Attitudes; Educational Environment; Predictor Variables; Racial Differences; Fraternities; Sororities; Place of Residence

1053-8259

Why do students leave college and how can colleges retain them? Researchers and administrators have been asking these questions for decades and have discovered that student persistence is a complex phenomenon. First-year student departure from postsecondary institutions is a concern for most colleges and universities. U.S. colleges and universities experience an average departure rate for first-year students of 25% (Braxton, 2000). University administrators have responded to this problem by developing a variety of first-year success programs designed to increase student retention. Despite the creation and implementation of orientation programs, freshmen introductory courses, support groups, and other retention methods, however, student departure remains an important issue among college administrators and researchers. The purpose of this study was to determine what influence first-year college students' sense of community had on their intent to return to college. In addition, this study examined what influence various first-year college student characteristics had on both their sense of community and their intent to return. This study was meant to be exploratory in terms of identifying possible influences of sense of community with the intent of exploring significant influences in more depth in future research.

Author

5

2008

EJ789199