How Final Is Leaving College While in Academic Jeopardy? Examining the Utility of Differentiating College Leavers by Academic Standing

Retention research rarely differentiates between students dismissed from an institution for poor academic performance versus students leaving by choice. As a proxy for studying academic dismissal, this study investigated differences between students leaving college in academic jeopardy after the first year (<2.00 grade point average) and those leaving in good standing. These two types of academic leavers differed sharply in their 6-year completion outcomes, with students leaving in good standing most likely to receive a degree from another 4-year institution and students leaving in academic jeopardy most likely to not receive a postsecondary degree in 6 years. Further, these two groups differed on a number of student demographic and academic characteristics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, first-generation college student, SAT scores) and institutional characteristics of first institution attended (e.g., freshman class size). Future research should consider differentiating between these two types of academic leavers when examining retention and designing-related interventions.