Record Detail

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.