Academic-Capital

The college experience is a rite of passage that is an avenue to higher income and levels of employment. Students often experience difficulty making the transitions from home life to a traditional college setting without support. For some students the transition requires the acceptance of new connections and social networks with people that support their goals. Student retention has become a bigger concern for colleges in recent years and research helps support how colleges can increase these retention rates as students make these difficult life-changing choices. Even though there is literature available on how to improve retention rates the actual percentages of retention have not changed much over the past decade (NCES, 2005). The period of adjustment to college life can be difficult for many students as they transition out of their homes and into a new way of thinking and living. Over the past decade the nature of college and the demographics of students are adjusting to