The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship and correlation between positive psychological capital (PsyCap), which includes the resources of hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism, to student status and academic achievement. PsyCap can potentially increase academic success, possibly increasing college retention and graduation rates. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional research design was used to survey students at a private 4-year healthcare college. Sixteen undergraduate students took the Academic Psychological Capital Questionnaire and self-reported traditional or nontraditional student status, Human Anatomy grade, and overall GPA. The results showed no statistically significant findings between student status and PsyCap. However, when analyzing the relationship between PsyCap and Human Anatomy grade, Spearman's rho correlations found school work (SW) hope was statistically significant (p = 0.04). Moreover, when analyzing the relationship between PsyCap and overall GPA, t tests indicated SW hope was statistically significant (p = 0.02), and overall life (OL) hope (p = 0.09) and the composite scores for OL PsyCap (p = 0.06) and SW PsyCap (p = 0.07) were significant at a threshold of p = 0.10. The study indicates students with higher levels of PsyCap, especially higher levels of hope, may experience increased academic success, potentially leading to increased retention. Therefore, colleges could adopt programs designed to nurture PsyCap for at-risk and low-performing students. In addition, instructors should spend time elevating all students' levels of PsyCap to ensure they are as successful as possible. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]