Student retention continues to be a salient issue for administrators and scholars in higher education. For more than 50 years researchers in numerous disciplines, including sociology, psychology, and economic theory, have tried to discover the reasons why students decide to remain in school until graduation. However, retention rates have remained stagnant at about 50%. Serious consequences result when large numbers of students do not graduate (e.g., fiscal appropriations may be reduced). Additionally, an institution’s reputation is created, in part, on its graduation rate and the racial diversity of the student body.
Researchers have recommended finding innovative, interdisciplinary methods to address the “student departure puzzle.” In this pioneering study, a geographic information system (GIS) was innovatively used to develop a habitus retention model based on U.S. Census Bureau socioeconomic and demographic census-tract data. Student addresses were mapped to their census-tract locations to determine whether distance from a university had any relationship to persistence behaviors. In addition, census-tract data were used as a proxy for student and institutional habitus to establish how environmental factors affected retention rates.
This investigation yielded a number of significant findings, especially in regard to females who dropped out of college and students who were still enrolled six years after matriculation. Moreover, habitus and geographic location proved to be important indicators in persistence decisions. The feasibility of using GIS technology for conducting student retention research was confirmed based on the results of this study.
","abstract_html":"<p>Student retention continues to be a salient issue for administrators and scholars in higher education. For more than 50 years researchers in numerous disciplines, including sociology, psychology, and economic theory, have tried to discover the reasons why students decide to remain in school until graduation. However, retention rates have remained stagnant at about 50%. Serious consequences result when large numbers of students do not graduate (e.g., fiscal appropriations may be reduced). Additionally, an institution’s reputation is created, in part, on its graduation rate and the racial diversity of the student body.</p> <p>Researchers have recommended finding innovative, interdisciplinary methods to address the “student departure puzzle.” In this pioneering study, a geographic information system (GIS) was innovatively used to develop a habitus retention model based on U.S. Census Bureau socioeconomic and demographic census-tract data. Student addresses were mapped to their census-tract locations to determine whether distance from a university had any relationship to persistence behaviors. In addition, census-tract data were used as a proxy for student and institutional habitus to establish how environmental factors affected retention rates.</p> <p>This investigation yielded a number of significant findings, especially in regard to females who dropped out of college and students who were still enrolled six years after matriculation. Moreover, habitus and geographic location proved to be important indicators in persistence decisions. The feasibility of using GIS technology for conducting student retention research was confirmed based on the results of this study.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hanewicz, Cheryl"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Leadership and Counseling","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Martha W. Tack, Ph.D., Chair","Elizabeth Broughton, Ed.D.","Patrick Melia, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007-04-26T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2007-04-26T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z","subjects":["Geographic Information System","GIS","Higher Education","student retention","student persistence"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/516","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Martha W. Tack, Ph.D., Chair","Elizabeth Broughton, Ed.D.","Patrick Melia, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hanewicz, Cheryl"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-09-19T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Leadership and Counseling"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Geographic Information System","GIS","Higher Education","student retention","student persistence"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/516"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Student retention continues to be a salient issue for administrators and scholars in higher education. For more than 50 years researchers in numerous disciplines, including sociology, psychology, and economic theory, have tried to discover the reasons why students decide to remain in school until graduation. However, retention rates have remained stagnant at about 50%. Serious consequences result when large numbers of students do not graduate (e.g., fiscal appropriations may be reduced). Additionally, an institution’s reputation is created, in part, on its graduation rate and the racial diversity of the student body.
Researchers have recommended finding innovative, interdisciplinary methods to address the “student departure puzzle.” In this pioneering study, a geographic information system (GIS) was innovatively used to develop a habitus retention model based on U.S. Census Bureau socioeconomic and demographic census-tract data. Student addresses were mapped to their census-tract locations to determine whether distance from a university had any relationship to persistence behaviors. In addition, census-tract data were used as a proxy for student and institutional habitus to establish how environmental factors affected retention rates.
This investigation yielded a number of significant findings, especially in regard to females who dropped out of college and students who were still enrolled six years after matriculation. Moreover, habitus and geographic location proved to be important indicators in persistence decisions. The feasibility of using GIS technology for conducting student retention research was confirmed based on the results of this study.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Using geographic information systems to identify student retention patterns"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Martha W. Tack, Ph.D., Chair","Elizabeth Broughton, Ed.D.","Patrick Melia, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Hanewicz, Cheryl"],"dc:date.available":["2013-09-19T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Student retention continues to be a salient issue for administrators and scholars in higher education. For more than 50 years researchers in numerous disciplines, including sociology, psychology, and economic theory, have tried to discover the reasons why students decide to remain in school until graduation. However, retention rates have remained stagnant at about 50%. Serious consequences result when large numbers of students do not graduate (e.g., fiscal appropriations may be reduced). Additionally, an institution’s reputation is created, in part, on its graduation rate and the racial diversity of the student body.
Researchers have recommended finding innovative, interdisciplinary methods to address the “student departure puzzle.” In this pioneering study, a geographic information system (GIS) was innovatively used to develop a habitus retention model based on U.S. Census Bureau socioeconomic and demographic census-tract data. Student addresses were mapped to their census-tract locations to determine whether distance from a university had any relationship to persistence behaviors. In addition, census-tract data were used as a proxy for student and institutional habitus to establish how environmental factors affected retention rates.
This investigation yielded a number of significant findings, especially in regard to females who dropped out of college and students who were still enrolled six years after matriculation. Moreover, habitus and geographic location proved to be important indicators in persistence decisions. The feasibility of using GIS technology for conducting student retention research was confirmed based on the results of this study.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/516"],"dc:subject":["Geographic Information System","GIS","Higher Education","student retention","student persistence"],"dc:title":["Using geographic information systems to identify student retention patterns"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Leadership and Counseling"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z"}