A Comparison of Effects of Campus Residence and Freshman Seminar Attendance on Freshman Dropout Rates

Abstract

This study compared the relative effects of (a) living on campus and (b) participating in a freshman orientation seminar on freshman dropout rates from 1986 to 1993. As expected when analyzed separately, each factor independently reduced the dropout rate. When examined together, more freshmen dropped out from not taking the freshman orientation seminar ( n = 423) than from not living on campus ( n = 346); however, the percentage of freshman dropouts resulting from not living on campus (7.8%) exceeded the percentage of those resulting from not taking the freshman seminar (4.1%). Therefore, both taking the freshman seminar and living on campus reduce freshman dropout rates. Students who do both (i.e., take the seminar and live on campus) have the lowest dropout rates while those who neither take the seminar nor live on campus have the highest dropout rates.