The NROTC Experience and College Student Persistence

Abstract

Abstract This paper explores three scholarly perspectives of college student persistence and discusses the relevance of these perspectives in analysis of the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) experience on campus. The three perspectives vary in significance, but each has applicability informing on the issue of NROTC student persistence. Tinto (1973) provided theories and models that examine the college student experience in relation to persistence; whereas, others inform on pre-college attributes and student aid as they relate to persistence. There is much existing scholarly research on the topic of persistence with respect to traditional college students, but very little that applies these theories and perspectives to NROTC students. This paper presents analysis of each of these three perspectives as they inform on NROTC student persistence, and provides NROTC stakeholders a means of assessing influences on NROTC student persistence decisions within the college environment.