Abstract
This paper employs a theoretical model to explain the long-term persistence of students who began their postsecondary education in two-year institutions. The model was estimated on a national sample of 825 students who initially enrolled in 85 two-year institutions in the fall of 1971, and who were followed over a nine-year period. Although there were differences in the factors associated with persistence for men and women, the results tend to confirm the importance of person-environment fit as a salient influence on degree persistence and completion in postsecondary education. Measures of academic and social integration had the most consistent pattern of positive direct effects, and much of the influence of student precollege traits was indirect.
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Pascarella, E.T., Smart, J.C. & Ethington, C.A. Long-term persistence of two-year college students. Res High Educ 24, 47–71 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00973742
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00973742