Examination of the Effectiveness of an Institutional Intervention to Improve Retention at an Agricultural College

Historically, agricultural colleges have primarily attracted students with prior experience in agriculture. However, there is a growing trend of students enrolling without such backgrounds. Recent research emphasizes the need for agricultural colleges to adopt innovative strategies that address the evolving needs of their student body, fostering both retention and academic success. This study assessed the impacts of a college initiative on first to second-year student retention within an agricultural college. Conducted at Colorado State University, a non-experimental crosssectional predictive design was employed to investigate key variables such as first year experience course enrollment, first-term GPA, Colorado residency, gender, race, and ethnicity. The results revealed a significant predictive retention rate model (X2 (4) =195.625, p<0.001) for students who were enrolled in the first-year experience course (p=.031). Successfully retained students also had GPAs higher than 2.5 (p<0.001) and had in-state residency status (p=0.004). The findings emphasize the importance of targeted interventions, like first-year agricultural experience courses, in fostering student success and retention within agricultural colleges. This research contributes valuable insights for students and institutions, emphasizing the need to invest in strategies that ensure modern agricultural students' success in their academic environment, therebyfostering a positive impact on the future agricultural workforce.