Increasing Persistence: Research Based Strategies for College Student Success by Wesley R. Habley, Jennifer L. Bloom, Steve Robbins (review)

The topic of student persistence in post‐secondary education continues to be a matter of significant importance. Calls by the Obama administration to increase degree attainment are dependent on raising retention rates. Legislatures, policymakers and accreditors have singled out retention as a key measure of institutional effectiveness. Most institutions have task forces and committees or assigned administrators to monitor and address student persistence rates. An array of professional conferences, consultancies, and organizations, are dedicated to conducting research and disseminating resources to help colleges and universities understand the impact of various practices on student retention and degree‐completion. Decades of scholarly research on persistence and college outcomes have thoroughly explored the topic. Indeed, few issues have been as extensively addressed and examined in publications and scholarly research.

All the attention to the topic of student persistence is warranted. Retention statistics are sobering. A third or more students leave four‐year public colleges and universities at the end of their first year and about 40% of students who begin college will never earn a degree. Despite all the attention to improving student retention, most institutional persistence rates have remained stagnant. Greater efforts are needed to develop policies and practices that result in better outcomes for students and institutions. Fortunately, a comprehensive synthesis of research combined with straightforward approaches to improve student retention is now available in Increasing Persistence: Research-based Strategies for College Student Success (Habley, Bloom & Robbins, 2012).

This compendium of research‐based approaches begins with a bold promise to provide new insights on the topic of retention and guidance to practitioners by focusing on the basic principles of retention practice. The authors immediately zero in on their approach with the identification of core components necessary for students to succeed in college and then outline a narrow focus on four intervention areas: assessment/course placement, developmental education initiatives, academic advising, and student transition programming. The volume focuses on these four interventions because they have been demonstrated to be the most important retention initiatives in all institutional types, and in times of tight resources, are the areas most likely to make an appreciable difference to student persistence.

The book is logically organized into five sections, beginning with fundamental definition and theory chapters, followed by explication of current demographic and national challenges, and then specific treatments on proven student success practices. Chapter 1 provides a thorough overview of terminology, institutional indicators of persistence, and introduces an expanded perspective on the topic of student success. The critique that current definitions and accountability measures are too narrow and institution‐centric to bring about needed increases in student persistence makes for a clear and compelling warrant for the chapters that follow. An obligatory, though concise, discussion on retention theory and extant literature is provided in chapter 2. One of the most important points made in this chapter is that what is known about student and institutional characteristics associated with retention has been consistent for more than four decades.

Chapters 3 through 5 make the case for intensified campus retention efforts. The demographic challenges to retention, including student characteristics, a diversifying population, and the vicissitudes of the educational pipeline, are explored in chapter 3. The imperative for addressing retention is advanced in chapter 4 with an account of the public and private benefits of college. Chapter 5 offers the conclusive point on the cost of attrition, positive revenue impact of increased retention, and the need to invest in initiatives that make a difference.

Building on the introductory chapters, the remaining chapters open the door to new ways of thinking about and strategies for addressing retention. Chapter 6 offers a synthesis of research about creating a culture focused on enhancing student persistence and success. Chapter 7 provides a succinct discussion about entering students’ lack of preparation and what this portends for attrition. College educators are charged with making three contributions to improve academic preparation, including...