This study examined American Indian and Alaska Native students' college choice and persistence beyond the freshman year at American Indian College. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 29 students from 18 tribes attending American Indian College, a very small Bible college affiliated with the Assemblies of God and located in Phoenix, Arizona. This college had a high freshman retention rate of 86 percent. Four concepts were identified that affected institutional choice and persistence. This paper focuses on one of them--institutional culture. Positive influences on choosing the college were the high percentage of American Indian students (78 percent), small school size, a low student/teacher ratio, and the active recruitment of American Indian students by the college. Positive influences in the retention of students were regular chapel services, ministry outreach, the development of close friendships among students and staff, and faculty validation and encouragement. Negative influences were a lack of religious programming, religious differences, faculty invalidation, culturally insensitive faculty, difficulties with residential staff, and concerns with the rules. Recommendations related to the findings are presented. (Contains 30 references.) (TD)