Institutions must renew their emphasis on serving the needs of the individual. They should devote equal enthusiasm and resources to both recruitment and retention. Students are not likely to persist at an institution that does not seek to understand and fulfill individual student needs. Though students may be successfully recruited, those who lack awareness of institutional expectations and services, those who lack adequate preparation for college work, and, those who attend college only to fulfill the expectations of others, are likely to leave the institution if it fails to assist them during the early transitional period of their association. However, students who believe in the quality and responsiveness of the institution are far more likely to persist.

Generally, retention research exists in two forms. Either the study is designed to measure the effectiveness of retention programs implemented, or it seeks to establish cause and effect relationships between one or several variables and leaving school. This study presents the results of research which concentrated on the latter. It also sought to determine the differences between “persisters” and “leavers” in relation to their goals of attending college, and the effects of social and academic integration, associated with institutional commitment. Subpopulations including freshmen, transfer, continuing, graduated and former non- graduated students were studied. Implications of the research for student services are presented.