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Pre-enrollment Factors Affecting Retention at Rhodes College
Standafer, Caleb Boyd, III
Standafer, Caleb Boyd, III
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Economics and Business Administration, Department of, Text, Honors papers
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Abstract
This paper seeks to use both the theoretical and empirical techniques of economics to
build upon the literature of the factors responsible for retention at colleges and
universities, and apply it specifically to an area that has not been examined in the
literature so far, a small, highly-selective liberal arts college. Rhodes College is the
target institution, with the data coming from its extensive databases on student
characteristics and biographical and demographic information. Using both an
institutional research theoretical model specific to college retention that is seen in much
of the literature on the subject, a signaling model from economic literature is added to
provide a framework under which incentives can be structured so that certain preenrollment
characteristics show an increased propensity to stay at Rhodes College
beyond a student’s freshman year. A probit model is then used to estimate the exact
characteristics that identify the increased propensity for a retained outcome, including
both academic and social factors. In light of the results, specific policy implications are
discussed.