Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Education

Committee Chair

Erin McHenry-Sorber

Committee Member

Nathan Sorber

Committee Member

John Campbell

Committee Member

Rachel Nieman

Abstract

Student success is a matter of critical importance to institutions of higher education, and to students. Colleges and universities exist in a current context of decreasing supply of potential students as a result of an impending demographic cliff and, therefore, increased competition for those remaining students, all while many institutions have become more tuition-dependent. This creates an incentive to decrease selectivity in order to meet enrollment goals as well as to focus university resources on student success measures that impact retention.  Some institutions have decreased selectivity to the point of admitting students conditionally or provisionally, even if those students do not meet the stated requirements for admission.  This dissertation studies the impact of the intervention Success Coaching on the grade point average, likelihood of being retained, and likelihood of graduating of one cohort of conditionally admitted students who participated in the intervention as a proactive measure. Using a quantitative approach, including multiple linear regression and logistic regression, this study finds a positive and statistically significant impact on the conditionally admitted students’ fall term GPA, spring cumulative GPA, likelihood of being retained to the spring term, likelihood of being retained to the fall term, likelihood of graduating in 4-years, and likelihood of graduating in 6-years.

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