Student Success
Many researchers have studied student persistence based on various student characteristics such as age, gender, background, and socio-economic status, but few have examined how students shape their environment, goals, expectations and motivation to create their success to persist in higher education. Student persistence and retention in higher education has become a hot topic amongst educators. Enrollment in higher education has increased; however, the number of students graduating has not kept pace. There are various reasons why students are not persisting.
There is a need to identify which student factors have the most influence on students shaping their education in terms of persistence in higher education.
Three factors have been identified as being influential in retention and persistence: cognitive factors, which include psychological influences and persistence; social factors, which include student background, academic performance, and financial causes; and institutional factors, which include bureaucratic elements, external issues, and learning methods.