IMPROVING MINORITY RETENTION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A SEARCH FOR EFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES

Abstract

Attrition of minority students from postsecondary education represents a major obstacle to attainment of equal educational opportunity. Gains in admission rates of minority students that have been made over the past decade have been eroded by their higher attrition rate. From a policy perspective, the most important issue is not merely why students drop out, but what can be done to prevent withdrawal.This study examined programs and policies at four four‐year predominantly White institutions with good minority retention in an attempt to identify variables that enhance minority retention. The institutions studied were: Boston College, California State University‐Fresno, University of North Carolina‐Greensboro, and Purdue University. These schools varied in terms of institutional environment, including selectivity, size, and proportion of minorities on campus; rationale for developing minority retention efforts; grade level of students served by special programs; and scope and type of services. The differences we found across institutions demonstrate that retention efforts for minority students can be developed and carried out successfully in many different ways, at different types of institutions.Although we found much diversity among the programs, we also found that there were certain common characteristics across programs–characteristics that appear to be elements of successful retention efforts. These characteristics are: the presence of a stated policy on minority enrollments; a high level of institutional commitment; a substantial degree of institutionalization of the program; comprehensiveness of services; dedicated staff; systematic collection of data, monitoring, and follow‐up; strong faculty support; and non‐stigmatization of participants.From our study, we developed a general model that represents steps needed to formulate a retention program. The steps are: making a policy decision to enhance minority retention, conducting a needs assessment and developing a data base to examine minority enrollment patterns, implementing a program and monitoring and evaluating this program. This model emphasizes that retention efforts include all parts of the institution and constitute an ongoing process in which changes are made as needed.We hope that other colleges and universities will view the programs described in this report as models from which to gain ideas for adaptation in their own settings.