Bridging the Gaps in Retention

Abstract

After a brief review of some of the literature on retention, the author examines some of the major issues in retention on urban campuses with high numbers of first-generation minority students, older students, working students, and students who commute to campus. He explores how Astin s notion of student involvement and Tinto s concept of academic and social integration pertains to such campuses, and describes some programmatic interventions designed to improve retention. The author concludes that broadlybased partnerships with public schools constitute a significant factor in efforts to improve retention in the urban university.