Factors that Influence College Completion Intention of Undergraduate Students

Universities are facing challenges in the area of student retention and graduation. A critical question is what schools can do to improve undergraduate students' intentions to complete college. Dropout intention has been studied, yet the exploration of college completion intention has not been thoroughly examined. Using structural equation modeling, a model was developed to explain college completion intention of undergraduate students. The independent variables were perceived institutional support, academic self-efficacy, institutional commitment, classroom learning environment, and social support. A total of 260 university students participated. The model explains 37 % of the variance in college completion intention. The conclusion reached from the analysis is that the learning environment is a moderately powerful but indirect influence on students' college completion intention. Furthermore, social support and perceived institutional support contribute to a student's intention to complete college. Academic self-efficacy plays a smaller yet significant role in student's college completion intention also. Institutions need to be places that develop positive experiences in the classroom as this is a major catalyst in the student's intention to complete college.