The Relationship Between Undergraduate Hispanic Students' Choice of Living Arrangements and Retention, Academic Achievement and Graduation at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Abstract

All rights reserved.iv DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my mother, Patti Ann Spencer, who always reminded me to smile and enjoy life because life is short. I never met anyone who knew how to enjoy life more than my mom. When I was very young, my mom would tell me that the great equalizer in life is education, and that no one can ever take your education away from you. As an alumnus of both the University of Miami and Columbia University, my mom modeled for me the most important lessons in life -it is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice; and no one cares what you know, until they know that you care.I also dedicate this dissertation to Coach K, Tom Izzo, Jimmy Valvano, RitaPierson, and the many coaches and teachers who have inspired me throughout my life.Every day I am reminded of the importance of the work that you do and the difference that you make. Coach K taught me that people make rules to keep from making decisions; Tom Izzo shared that the secret to success is arriving early and staying late; Jimmy V said never, never give up and that every day you should laugh, think and bring your emotions to tears; and Rita Pierson reminded me that every kid needs a champion. To my faculty, Dr. Thomas Reio, Jr. for being the most dedicated and caring dissertation chair and mentor. All of our meetings were encouraging and your emails reminding me to "go, go, go…" were exactly the push that I needed to get this dissertation done. I could not have completed my dissertation without your brilliant edits, tremendous kindness, and all of your encouragement. Dr. Dawn Addy, for your willingness to serve on my committee as you began your retirement. All of your feedback and suggestions were valuable and appreciated. Dr. Ben Baez, for your candidness and expertise with my study. In our first meeting you told me about a student who was able to finish his dissertation, and that brief conversation gave me hope and encouragement throughout my writing. Retaining and graduating Hispanic students are paramount to the overall success of colleges and universities. Given the excessive amounts of money spent to recruit students, and the impact on the institution when students depart prematurely, action needs to be taken by institutions to increase Hispanic student retention and counter the negative impacts on institutions including: instability of institutional enrollments, decline in institutional budgets, and public negative perceptions of institutional quality. Despite significant efforts on the part of many colleges and universities to increase Hispanic student retention and graduation rates, these rates have remained relatively low.