The presentation will explore whether
participation in service-learning is
related to persistence in college with a
focus on the University of Wisconsin-
Parkside.
Helen Rosenberg
Professor
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Factors that Predict Persistence in College at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside
1. Factors that Predict Persistence in College at the
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Following a Student Cohort from 2009 through 2012
2. Research
Why focus on non-traditional students?
UWP has greatest percentage of students receiving Pell grants in UW-
System
Over 2/3rds of students work in addition to going to school full time
UWP has the highest percentage of students of color in the UW-System
UWP has the lowest retention rate in the UW-System, 30%
20% of students do not return after the freshman year
3. Research
Predictors of successful outcomes for UW-Parkside
students
What is success?
The dependent measure is persistence over time
Persistence refers to long-term outcomes, while
retention is most often used to talk about re-enrollment
from freshman to sophomore year
4. Factors contributing to re-enrollment
Tinto (1975, 1997, 2005) identified four factors:
academic integration
social integration
financial pressures
psychological differences, i.e.,
family background, past educational
experiences
5. Identifying Non-traditional Students
24+ or 25 + years old
Employed Full-time
Married/Caregiving
Part time enrollment
First Generation
Students of Color (sometimes
referred to as “under represented
students”)
The term
"nontraditional
student" is not a
precise one (NCES, 2002)
6. Independent Variables
Measures of Non-traditionality
Age (24+)
Enrolled Part Time
First Generation College Student
Race (students of color)
Service Learning
Took service learning class or not
Demographics
Gender
Freshman/Transfer Students
GPA
7. Demographic Distribution of Students entering UWP
N=1155
Measures of Non-
traditionality
Age (24+)
Enrolled Part Time
First Generation College
Student
Race (students of color)
Service Learning
Took service learning class or not
Demographics
Gender
Freshmen/Transfer Students
GPA
Persistence to Graduation
Measure Fall,
2010
Fall,
2011
Fall,
2012
24+ 11.7% 12.0% 11.6%
Part-time 40.3% 56.9% 65.7%
First Gen 60.1% 60.4% 60.5%
Students
of Color
29.4% 27.4% 29.4%
Took SL 13.3% 24.2% 34.0%
Female 56.8% 56.5% 60.1%
Freshmen 71.7% 69.5% 68.1%
GPA 2.59 2.73 2.85
Re-
Enrolled/G
raduated
65% 51% 41%
8. Correlations Among Independent Measures
Strongest relationship
Full-time enrollment and GPA
Positive relationships
Students who enroll in CBL classes tend to be full-time
Students who enroll in CBL classes tend to have higher
GPAs than students who do not take a class with CBL
Conclusion:
There is a strong relationship among full-time
enrollment, CBL course enrollment and GPA
9. Correlations Among Independent Measures
Demographic relationships to GPA
Men and students of color tend to have lower GPAs than
women and Whites.
There is no relationship between being a first generation
student and GPA
Transfer students tend to be older and earn higher GPAs
than incoming Freshmen
Older (24+) students are more likely to be part-time and
earn lower GPAs than younger students
11. Significance of Service-Learning
Students who take service-learning courses are more
likely to persist.
Service Learning has a consistently strong impact on reenrollment and
graduation.
When full-time enrollment and GPA are added into the model, the
effects of service learning decline because of its strong relationship to
these variables
12. Significance of Demographics
Race
Race is an inconsistent predictor of persistence with white students more
likely to reenroll.
Students of color are about 75% as likely to re-enroll and graduate as
are white students
Age
The effects of age are slight and insignificant over time
First Generation Status
The effect of being a first generation college student is slight and becomes
insignificant over time
13. Significance of Transfer Students
and Full-Time Status
Transfer Students
Entry status is an inconsistent predictor of re-enrollment with transfer
students more likely to persist.
Full-time Status
Full time status is a powerful predictor of reenrollment throughout all
years of the analysis
The effects of full-time enrollment are very strong, but decline when GPA is
added to the model
14. Service-Learning has a positive effect on all
students (traditional and non-traditional)
Part-time enrollment seems to pose the greatest
challenges for non-traditional students in
relation to re-enrollment
Service learning was significant for freshmen and
juniors, but not for second year
Implications for UW-Parkside
Editor's Notes
Success is the dependent variable and is defined as re-enrollment or graduation.
Some of these contribute to retention, while others do not. For example, academic integration and social integration contribute to retention. Academic integration=learning communities; CBL; Social integration=clubs;
CBL contributes to students’ feelings of integration in that students report that they feel part of a larger whole and that faculty and administrators care about them.
Engagement as measure of academic integration: National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) finds that students involved in “high impact practices” more likely to re-enroll (Kuh, 2012)
What remains stable over time: age, first generation status, race and the number of freshmen enrolled in each year.
Slight increases in gender
Increases in part-time status – full time students tend to graduate earlier so greater percentages of part time students are left
GPA increases over time.
Service learning was defined as any student taking a service learning course. As the number of students in service learning increase, the total increases with time.
Enrollment: 65% of freshmen enrolled in 2009 are enrolled in 2010
51% are enrolled in 2011 and 41% are enrolled in 2012
Our statistics show that after six years, only about 37% of our entering students have graduated.
Our dependent measure was success, defined as re-enrollment or graduation.
What matters
Overall, students who take service learning classes are almost twice as likely to re-enroll and graduate as those who do not
What matters
Race seems to make the most difference the first year of school, but then its effects on persistence decline
What matters
Transfer: This effect is significant only in the last year, 2012 with transfer students more likely to persist
It becomes statistically insignificant when full time status and GPA are entered in the analysis