Parental, residential, and self-belief factors influencing academic persistence decisions of college freshmen

Based on Tinto's model of academic persistence, this study explored background and personal factors that theoretically impact the academic persistence decisions of college freshmen. The factors studied were (a) parental educational attainment, (b) parental valuing of education, (c) high school grade point average, (d) residential status (on- vs. off-campus), (e) personal valuing of education, (f) perceived academic preparation, (g) academic self-expectancy, (h) educational self-efficacy, and (i) selfesteem. The study sample consisted of 378 (135 male and 243 female) freshmen who were 18 and 19 years old. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that more positive academic persistence decisions were predicted by residential status (living on-campus) and self-beliefs, specifically greater educational self-efficacy, self-esteem, and personal valuing of education. These findings suggest that researchers, counselors, and college policy makers consider residential status as well as students' beliefs about themselves when making decisions related to increasing retention of college freshmen.