College Success

Factors such as retention, persistence, degree attainment, and grade point average are common measures of college success; however, in the field of higher education, there exists ambiguity regarding the meaning and definition of college success and how to operationalize and measure college success. There exists a lack of a standard and clear definition of college success in higher education because the research on college students is principally an amalgamation of scholarship across several fields, such as education, psychology, and other social sciences. Many theoretical perspectives, frameworks, and conceptualizations have contributed to present-day notions of college success. This entry describes the conceptualization of college success and the outcomes that have traditionally been considered to represent college success. It also describes the factors that higher education professionals, ...