First University Experience and Student Retention Factors

The global marketplace has heightened the need for highly skilled personnel worldwide, underscoring the fact that a postsecondary education has almost become a necessary link to innovation and competitiveness. Canada, along with other industrialized nations, has an ageing population and is being challenged to alleviate specialized skill imbalances and shortages. A combination of two methods is usually employed to provide a steady supply of university graduates: the first one is to increase accessibility, and the second is to reduce the attrition of first-year students. After examining the latter through a 24-variable binomial logistic regression model (N = 4229), we found that higher retention rates are definitely achievable in particular environments.