A study was conducted of the extent to which the factors of selectivity in freshman admissions, ethnic background, and gender affect the retention and graduation rates of university students. Longitudinal retention data collected from 28 institutions in the Big Eight, Big Ten, and the Southern University Group (SUG) for the first-time freshmen classes of fall 1983 through fall 1989 were used as a basis for analysis. Findings indicated that while the overall retention rates for the 1983-89 cohort groups were generally consistent, retention rates for Black students showed significant and steady improvement, going from 75 percent for 1983 to 82 percent for 1989. Findings also showed that among minority groups, retention rates and graduation rates were highest for Asian Americans, followed by Hispanics, Blacks, and American Indians, even when subgroups of race are combined with variables of selectivity or gender. In addition, comparison of the highly selective with the selective colleges showed significant differences in retention and graduation, with the highly selective institutions retaining and graduating more students. Analysis by gender found that, in almost all of the institutions, retention and graduation rates were higher for females than they were for males. Included are seven tables and seven references. (JB)