First-year student retention has become a national priority for institutions of higher learning. Since 2004, retention of first-year college students has been on a steady decline. Due to recent the adoption of the Louisiana Granting Resources and Autonomy for Diplomas (GRAD) Act, college administrators in Louisiana are determined to increase first-year student retention, a key performance measure. Of the many factors known to support retention, student-faculty mentoring relationships are known to have a positive impact on college students’ experiences, including increased first-year student retention. However, there is less known about the role of academic advising combined with success coaching in retaining first-year college students. The purpose of this study is to understand first-year college students’ experiences with academic advising and success coaching. By conducting a case study, the researcher further understands the retention of first-year college students to the second year at a comprehensive research public university in Louisiana. The data collected from this study identifies current practices in first-year student retention to inform the current and future programs and services provided on campuses for first-year students.

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A private, not-for-profit, 4-year urban university had been struggling to improve its 1st-year retention rate despite conducting previous studies and implementing various initiatives. This study explored the influence that students' personal connections to the study site had on their experience in their 1st year in college. Tinto's student integration models of attrition, Astin's theory on student involvement, and Berger and Milem's model of persistence served as the conceptual framework. A case study design was employed to examine faculty and staff members' beliefs on how the university established and maintained connections with its students and how faculty, staff, and students viewed 1st-year initiatives and retention in relation to personal connection. Individual interviews were conducted with 3 faculty members, 3 staff members, and 15 2nd-year students. The resulting data were coded both manually and using Microsoft OneNote and were analyzed for emerging themes. Some of the results that emerged from the study included that the study site had a difficult time establishing a connection with its students, 1st-year initiatives had mixed results, students stayed at the study site because of a personal connection, and urban institutions have a difficult time establishing a connection with students. These results shed light on a new area on which the university can focus its retention and 1st-year experience efforts. A white paper was written to offer possible solutions to administrators, including changes to the dormitories and a redesign of the 1st-year seminar course. Improvements to 1st-year retention will help promote positive social change by enabling more students to stay in college and graduate on time, which in turn enhances job opportunities and the potential for higher wages.

Compared to their peers, low-income students are 90% less likely to graduate within 6 years and are more likely to drop out. At the local site, this problem is also evident in that the retention rate for the Fall 2014-15 cohort was 78.3%, but just 60.2% for those defined as low-income students. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of low-income 1st year college students' perceived confidence in their use of technology and how it influenced their decision to stay in college. Understanding the role technology plays in the decision to stay in college will shed light on ways to offer support to increase retention of these students. The conceptual framework that guided the study was Bruno's confidence based learning methodology. This framework suggests there is a connection between knowledge and confidence. A qualitative descriptive design was used collecting data through a series of 10 open-ended interviews with low-income 1st year college students. The central research question explored how low-income 1st year college students describe their confidence in the use of technology as a factor in their retention. Data analysis consisted of manual coding to identify themes from the interview data. The findings suggested low-income 1st year students do not have confidence in their ability to use technology and remain in college. A policy recommendation to reinstate the information literacy policy for low-income 1st year students could affect social change as additional resources help to raise low-income 1st year college students' confidence using technology and supports them to persist in college.

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