Examining the relationship between student body racial diversity and college/university retention and graduation rates

Abstract

Over the past 80 years, many scholars and higher education professionals have attempted to better understand college student persistence and the institutional characteristics which are most strongly associated with an institution’s ability to retain students. One institutional characteristic that has received little empirical attention over these many years is organizational racial composition. This study examines the relationship between college/university undergraduate student body racial diversity and institutional freshmen retention and six-year graduation rates. The findings suggest that increased student body racial diversity is positively related to overall institutional freshmen retention rates but not significantly related to institutional six-year graduation rates. These relationships, however, were conditional on various institutional characteristics.