Abstract

The graduation rate over the past 30 years of students entering a tertiary educational setting (post-secondary institution) has plummeted to a consistent hold at the 50% mark because students depart higher education institutions prior to receiving a degree (Educational Policy Institute, 2003). Fifty-one percent of young women had entered and completed postsecondary education, compared to 41 percent of young men (Hudson, Aquilino & Kienzi, 2002). The primary purpose of this study is to explore the differences in the perception of academic persistence of 201 White undergraduate male students and 115 Black undergraduate male students at a predominantly White Southern Rural University (WSRU). The study examines data from an academic persistence survey completed during the spring semester 2007. Results of t-tests analyses indicate statistically significant differences between the groups regarding the perception of academic persistence. The findings revealed that the institutional climate for a sense of orientation to services at this rural institution had a significant difference amid groups. The results have implications both for enhancing institutional policies pertaining to student retention as well as instructive to administrators on this critical issue.