The attention to students' noncognitive attributes has recently flourished within academic research and public discourse. This paper adds to the literature by examining the interrelationships among several key noncognitive attributes as well as exploring direct and indirect relationships between noncognitive attributes and second-year retention.…

Since social connectedness is critical to student retention, colleges and universities have vested interest in identifying and providing assistance as early as possible. When students are struggling to fit in, a great deal of campus energy is invested in welcoming each new cohort of students and planning events to facilitate a sense of belonging.…

The first year of college constitutes a time of substantial transition for incoming students. Clearly, students vary greatly in their ability to cope with and adjust to these new challenges, and some students face far more challenges than others. A potentially important resource for successfully accomplishing this life transition is positive…