Student persistence can increase by up to 15% when students share key aspects of their academic and financial records with parents.

Student persistence and retention are of vital importance to the individual and university. Student persistence refers to the actions the student takes in order to continue his or her studies. It measures a student’s level of interest, activity, and engagement. In contrast, student retention refers to the actions the institution takes to keep the student moving on the path towards graduation.

Persistence ultimately depends on the student, but we found that implementing proper parent engagement strategies can help with student success. How? Check out the following research study we sponsored for more information.

Measuring student persistence

CampusESP sponsored a quantitative analysis of student persistence at Abilene Christian University. The research was summarized by Kayla Reed-Fitzke, a PhD in couples and family therapy from the University of Iowa. She also authored related studies such as Helicopter Parenting and Emerging Adult Self-Efficacy: Implications for Mental and Physical Health (2016) and Nick Peterson, Director of Analytics at Abilene Christian University.

Student Persistence Increases with Parent Engagement features findings based on 993 students enrolled in the study at Abilene Christian University (ACU) in the Fall of 2016.

Results showed that 82.5% of the 396 connected students persisted to the second year of college. In comparison, only 72.4% of the 597 students who were not connected to parents persisted.

The results also showed that a student-parent portal connection plays about as big a role in the student persistence as predicted GPA or Expected Family Contribution (EFC).

To control for extraneous factors that impact persistence, 114 individual variables were run through a multi-directional stepwise logistic regression model. These variables were used to create a base model to control for factors known to affect student retention.

The analysis helps dispel the notion that parent involvement is bad.  Parent and family involvement is crucial when it comes to student success.

If this study strikes a chord with your institution, and you would like to learn more about how we can help you increase student persistence, contact CampusESP today and speak to our team.

NOTE: A complementary study was also conducted in 2017 at Tarleton State University which showed that students whose families are involved with academic support are more likely to persist.