Institutional Location and College Persistence: The Role of Urbanicity

• In Event: Understanding Student Persistence Factors

Abstract

Students from rural areas are less likely than their urban or suburban counterparts to attend college (Adelman, 2002; Hu, 2003). Although theorists have postulated that institutional urbanicity affects college student outcomes (Berger & Milem, 2000), few, if any empirical studies have examined the relationship between an institution’s urbanicity and the outcome of persistence. This study employs multilevel modeling to examine the effect of attending a rural institution on student persistence. We find that students in rural institutions are less likely than those in urban institutions to persist. Other structural, peer, and financial organizational factors are also related to college persistence. Moreover, our results suggest that factors affecting persistence differ for students at rural, suburban, and urban institutions.

Authors

• Johnelle Sparks, The University of Texas - San Antonio

• Anne-Marie Nunez, The University of Texas - San Antonio