ERIC Number: EJ1420302
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-May
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1521-0251
EISSN: EISSN-1541-4167
Learning Communities: A Sound Investment in Higher Education
Kabongwe Gwebu; Jonathan Compton; Kyle Holtman; Aurelia Kollasch; Jennifer R. Leptien; Matthew D. Pistilli; Mack Shelley
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, v26 n1 p176-193 2024
University and college leaders are tasked with enhancing student outcomes with fewer resources. Student retention is one such key outcome of interest for many policy makers as well as for university administrators. Over the years, administrators have turned to High Impact Practices (HIPs) such as Learning Communities (LCs) to aid in retention. This quantitative study explores the impact LCs have on student retention at a large R1 university in the Midwest. Additionally, the financial return on investment in LCs at this institution is measured via tuition dollars generated from students who are retained as a result of their participation in a LC at the institution. Two key findings of this study are that LCs are positively associated with increased odds of student retention, and that investing in LCs makes good financial sense. Our research contributes to the scholarship on retention attributable to LCs and provides researchers and practitioners with a "template" to evaluate the efficacy of specific retention initiatives in relation to their financial return on investments.
Descriptors: Communities of Practice, School Holding Power, Higher Education, Outcomes of Education, Tuition, Educational Finance
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A