College student retention continues to be a vexing issue for colleges and universities. There are some very simple steps that a college or university can take to help students persist until they reach academic and/or personal goal attainment. This book is intended to give the reader the necessary tools, for all types of educational institutions and delivery systems, to implement a retention formula and success model that will actually help students meet their academic and personal goals and thus increase college retention and graduation rates. Regardless of the academic ability, socioeconomic status, gender, first generation, ethnicity of students, the retention formula and model presented will help each and every college type increase student retention and graduation rates.

Dr. Alan Seidmanis the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of College Student Retention (www.cscsr.org) and Professor Emeritus in the Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership and founding editor of the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory& Practice.

Preface: Seidman saysAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Why We Should Care About RetentionChapter 2: The College MissionChapter 3: Student Institutional FitChapter 4: Types of Student DepartureChapter 5: Various Retention Risk FactorsChapter 6: What Matters in College Student RetentionChapter 7: What we Know About First Generation College StudentsChapter 8: What we Know About Minority Student RetentionChapter 9: Other ConsiderationsChapter 10: Most Representative Student Enrollment Model: Why It Does Not WorkChapter 11: Seidman Student Success Formula/Model and Steps to SuccessChapter 12: Need for Competency HelpChapter 13: Moving Beyond Assessment& Initial Placement: The Seidman StudentChapter 14: Faculty Teaching PracticeChapter 15: Facilitating Student Social InteractionChapter 16: A Word AboutChapter 17: Other ThoughtsConcluding RemarksReferencesIndexAbout the Author