An Investigation of Academic Outcomes of Participants in UC Davis Student Retention Programs

Student retention in higher education, especially among traditionally underrepresented minority, first generation and low-income students, has been the focus of many efforts to address the educational achievement gap between groups. Millions of federal and state dollars have been expended over decades to improve college preparation and college graduation rates among African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American students as a matter of equity in access to and persistence in higher education. Despite allocation of considerable resources in improving retention and graduation rates among these groups in higher education, gaps in baccalaureate degree attainment continue to persist between ethnic groups. Compared to Whites and Asians, Hispanics/Latinos and African Americans are still less likely to have completed bachelor's degrees. In an era of diminishing resources and calls for greater accountability, there is a great need to investigate the effectiveness of college retention programs. This study investigates the pre-college academic characteristics, college outcomes, and demographic profiles of UC Davis students participating in three campus retention programs: Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Special Transitional Enrichment Program (STEP), and TRIO Student Support Services (TRIO). Drawing on the records of the 4389 members of the UC Davis 2005 freshman class, this study documents the disparities URM, low-income and first generation students have in pre-college academic characteristics and links those disparities to subsequent college outcomes including first year and second year persistence, graduation, time-to- degree, and grade point average. Outcomes of retention program participants are compared to outcomes of similarly situated non-participants. Multivariate regression analysis provides inferential evidence of how outcomes differ among students participating in multiple programs accounting for differences in pre-college academic characteristics and demographic factors.;The study finds that, on average, students with a single marker of educational disadvantage (URM status, low income or first generation status) perform comparably to other students, but the gap in college persistence, college GPA and graduation grows with the number of markers of educational disadvantage a student has. The study comments on the association between participation in retention programs and college success in three ways. First, among the three retention programs, students in TRIO are identified as having the highest incidence of multiple markers of educational disadvantage and the worst pre-college academic characteristics, but they demonstrate the best college outcomes. Second, when program participants with multiple markers of educational disadvantage are compared to non-participants with the same elements of disadvantage, participants have worse pre-college academic characteristics, but comparable or, in most cases, better college outcomes. Finally, regression analysis controlling for differences in pre-college academic characteristics and demographic factors among EOP students reveals that second year persistence and graduation rates increase with program intensity---the degree to which students participate in multiple retention programs.;This appears to be the first study that compares the characteristics and college outcomes of participants in EOP, STEP and TRIO at UC Davis with non-participants over their college careers. In assessing differences in outcomes, non-participants are not a formal control group because there may be compelling unobserved differences between participating students and non-participants that arise from program selection or self-selection. Nevertheless, by documenting the academic disparities educationally disadvantaged students bring to college and their subsequent challenges in persisting through graduation, the study refocuses the debate about how to achieve a more diverse student population from questions of access (principally, outreach, recruitment and admissions policies) to the need for and potential of student support programs designed to attenuate pre-college academic disparities.