Preface ix Acknowledgments xv About the Authors xvii 1. Introduction: Rethinking College Student Retention 1 Part I Recommendations for Policy and Practice 9 2. State Policy and Student Success 11 3. Recommendations for Institutional Policy and Practice 35 Part II Theoretical and Research Context 69 4. Explaining College Student Persistence 71 5. The Revision of Tinto s Theory for Residential Colleges and Universities 83 6. A Theory of Student Persistence in Commuter Colleges and Universities 109 7. Design of the Studies 133 Part III Key Factors in Student Persistence in Residential and Commuter Colleges and Universities 161 8. Student Persistence in Residential Colleges and Universities 163 9. Student Persistence in Commuter Colleges and Universities 183 10. Conclusions and a Call for Further Research 205 Appendix A: Design of the Studies Tables 223 Appendix B: Technical Appendix for Statistical Procedures 243 Appendix C: Multivariate Analyses Results Tables 253 References 265 Index 285