Impact of Admitted Student Programs on Matriculation and Retention

When addressing transitional programming for admitted students, Perigo and Upcraft (1989) indicated that the “critical components of these programs are the increased time with continuing students, time to interact with the campus environment, including residence-hall visits, sitting in on actual classes, and department or program-level individual appointments” (p. 87). All of these components were offered through special programs for admitted students in the spring semester of 2000 by the Office of Orientation and New Student Programs at a Midwestern, public, mid-size, doctoral-intensive institution. The purpose of this study was to determine if program participants in admitted student programs matriculated and persisted at greater rates than admitted students who did not participate in admitted student programs. In the past, the recruitment funnel was concerned primarily with increasing enrollment through the recruitment of new students. Tinto and Wallace (1986) wrote, “many academic officials believe the survival of their institution depends on maintaining, if not increasing, college enrollments. As a result, most institutions have adopted the obvious strategy: emphasizing recruitment” (p. 290). However, the number of students leaving college without completing degrees also has a negative impact on enrollment. Retention is important because