Date of Award
5-2025
Culminating Project Type
Dissertation
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
Higher Education Administration: Ed.D.
Department
Educational Administration and Higher Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Dr. Jennifer Jones
Second Advisor
Dr. Rachel Friedensen
Third Advisor
Dr. Emeka Ikegwuonu
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Brian Jones
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
orientation, persistence, online orientation
Abstract
College and university orientation programs are considered best practice, facilitating the transition of new students to the institution. Orientation activities are linked to a variety of positive outcomes for first year students including persistence, retention, and graduation rates (Ludeman & Schreiber, 2020; Pascarella, 1991). Higher education institutions were forced to pivot quickly to deliver courses and services online and virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minnesota State University, Mankato reconfigured the traditional on-campus, in-person orientation program to an online and virtual format in Summer 2020, and provided students the option to complete an online/virtual option or attend an on-campus/in-person program in subsequent years. I conduct an exploratory quantitative correlational study to investigate whether engagement in different types of orientation programs correlate with first-year students’ fall-to-fall persistence. I examine whether correlations exist between the number of online orientation modules a student completes and student persistence; and if correlations exist between attendance at an on-campus orientation program and student persistence. The results of this study will help inform Minnesota State University, Mankato about the effectiveness of the orientation program and whether it is meeting the goal of contributing to students’ success in their first year at the university.
Recommended Citation
Stock, Nicole, "A Quantitative Analysis of University Orientation Persistence Rates" (2025). Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration. 100.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/hied_etds/100
