A Replication of a Path Analytic Validation of Tinto’s Theory of College Student Attrition

This article describes a replication of an earlier study of the predictive validity of Tinto’s theory of college student attrition. With few exceptions, the results of this study are highly consistent with those of the earlier work and with theoretical expectations based on the model. This study also replicated a significant, compensatory interaction between levels of goal and institutional commitment indicating that institutional commitment had its greatest positive influence on retention for students with comparatively low levels of commitment to completing a college degree, and vice versa.