EXPECTATIONS FOR COLLEGE AND STUDENT PERSISTENCE

Tinto postulates that students enter college with expectations. If these expectations are unmet, there is early disenchantment with the social and academic communities. Such disenchantments hinder academic and social integration which, in turn, influence subsequent institutional and goal commitments and ultimately student departure. These formulations are tested in a multi-institutional study of 263 first-time freshmen who entered four-year colleges and universities. The findings indicate that both academic and social integration are positively influenced by the meeting of expectations for academic and career development. Social integration is positively influenced by expectations for opportunities for personal involvement, but negatively affected by expectations for a collegiate atmosphere. Indirect effects on intentions to remain in the focal college are indirectly influenced by collegiate atmosphere and academic and career development. Implications for enrollment management and the development of linkages between theories of college choice and student departure are drawn.