ABSTRACT
We have established that (a) the Learning Community (LC) experience is a high-impact intervention to facilitate the retention of first-year college students in higher education. (b) High retention rates are viewed as a quality indicator of an institution. (c) The supposition exists that students persist in their education because their academic and personal needs are being met by the institution. (d) When students borrow money for the first year of their college education and do not persist to their second year, colleges are accountable for misappropriation of funds, and both state and the federal government are beginning to hold this view (O’Keeffe; 2013). (e) Current first-year students are exhibiting lower emotional resilience; therefore, autonomy, as described in Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT), is a valuable attribute of first-year students. (f) The essence of a liberal arts education is the connections students make—both academic and social—in the world.
