Many U.S. universities are concerned with student retention. The current study surveyed 237 first time college students at a Midwestern university to determine the extent to which social-cognitive factors, such as high school GPA, ACT scores, first semester college GPA, college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship support influence freshmen's intent to persist and academic success.
Pearson Correlations, Standard Multiple Regression Analyses, PROCESS for Mediation and Moderation, and a MANOVA were performed. The study's findings show that college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship were the strongest predictors for intentions to persist past the first college semester. High school GPA was the strongest predictor, but ACT scores, perceptions of mentorship and participation in Learning Communities were also related to first semester college GPA. However, these results must be taken with caution. Because of the heterogeneous nature of Learning Communities, their impact may be further explored in future studies.
","abstract_html":"<p>Many U.S. universities are concerned with student retention. The current study surveyed 237 first time college students at a Midwestern university to determine the extent to which social-cognitive factors, such as high school GPA, ACT scores, first semester college GPA, college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship support influence freshmen's intent to persist and academic success. </p> <p>Pearson Correlations, Standard Multiple Regression Analyses, PROCESS for Mediation and Moderation, and a MANOVA were performed. The study's findings show that college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship were the strongest predictors for intentions to persist past the first college semester. High school GPA was the strongest predictor, but ACT scores, perceptions of mentorship and participation in Learning Communities were also related to first semester college GPA. However, these results must be taken with caution. Because of the heterogeneous nature of Learning Communities, their impact may be further explored in future studies.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Baier, Stefanie Theresia"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educational Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Barry S. Markman"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:59:33Z","subjects":["Academic Success","Freshmen","Learning Communities","Mentorship","Retention","Self-Efficacy","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/870","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Barry S. Markman"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Baier, Stefanie Theresia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Academic Success","Freshmen","Learning Communities","Mentorship","Retention","Self-Efficacy","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/870"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Many U.S. universities are concerned with student retention. The current study surveyed 237 first time college students at a Midwestern university to determine the extent to which social-cognitive factors, such as high school GPA, ACT scores, first semester college GPA, college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship support influence freshmen's intent to persist and academic success.
Pearson Correlations, Standard Multiple Regression Analyses, PROCESS for Mediation and Moderation, and a MANOVA were performed. The study's findings show that college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship were the strongest predictors for intentions to persist past the first college semester. High school GPA was the strongest predictor, but ACT scores, perceptions of mentorship and participation in Learning Communities were also related to first semester college GPA. However, these results must be taken with caution. Because of the heterogeneous nature of Learning Communities, their impact may be further explored in future studies.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Role Of Academic Factors, Self-Efficacy, Mentoring Relationships, And Learning Communities In Persistance And Academic Success Of Freshmen College Students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Barry S. Markman"],"dc:creator":["Baier, Stefanie Theresia"],"dc:date.available":["2014-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Many U.S. universities are concerned with student retention. The current study surveyed 237 first time college students at a Midwestern university to determine the extent to which social-cognitive factors, such as high school GPA, ACT scores, first semester college GPA, college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship support influence freshmen's intent to persist and academic success.
Pearson Correlations, Standard Multiple Regression Analyses, PROCESS for Mediation and Moderation, and a MANOVA were performed. The study's findings show that college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship were the strongest predictors for intentions to persist past the first college semester. High school GPA was the strongest predictor, but ACT scores, perceptions of mentorship and participation in Learning Communities were also related to first semester college GPA. However, these results must be taken with caution. Because of the heterogeneous nature of Learning Communities, their impact may be further explored in future studies.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/870"],"dc:subject":["Academic Success","Freshmen","Learning Communities","Mentorship","Retention","Self-Efficacy","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Psychology"],"dc:title":["The Role Of Academic Factors, Self-Efficacy, Mentoring Relationships, And Learning Communities In Persistance And Academic Success Of Freshmen College Students"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:59:33Z"}