Abstract:
According to Levitz, Noel, and Richter (1999), colleges and universities should be focusing on undergraduate persistence during students’ first year of postsecondary education. One strategy higher education institutions have been using for over 30 years to increase first-year to second-year student persistence in college is first year experience (FYE) initiatives (Tobolowsky, 2008). A specific FYE strategy many higher education institutions are using to increase persistence is the first year seminar (FYS). According to Barefoot’s (2005) examination of the National Survey of First-Year Practices, 96% of four year colleges and universities currently provide FYS courses. Midwestern University (2016b) began requiring all first-year, full-time, on-campus, degree-seeking students to participate in a FYS course in the fall of 2013 as a strategy to increase persistence. The current study examined the relationship between Midwestern University’s first year seminar (FYS) course characteristics (course size, living learning community status, instructor classification, and peer mentor status) and student persistence from first to second year. Students, who participated in a living learning community as part of a FYS course were more likely to persist than students who did not participate. Students in FYS courses that included a peer mentor were more likely to persist than students with no peer mentor available. No relationship was found between FYS course size and persistence from first to second year. No relationship was observed between FYS instructor classification and student persistence from first to second year. The results of this study will provide data to guide future FYS course design at Midwestern University. In addition, this study will be advantageous to other colleges and universities and provide data to support the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) strategic planning efforts for increasing higher education persistence.