A Success Course for Freshmen on Academic Probation: Persistence and Graduation Outcomes

Administrators at a large, public university launched a mandatory success course for freshmen placed on academic probation at the end of their first semester. We compared the rates of course participant and nonparticipant return to good academic standing; persistence to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years; and graduation (within 4 to 5 years). The chi-square test for independence revealed significant differences across all measures of persistence and graduation between the control and treatment groups. We call for an increase in credit-bearing success courses using applied retention theories in the curriculum for students on academic probation.