SPIRITUAL INTEGRATION AS A PREDICTOR OF PERSISTENCE AT A CHRISTIAN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The research reported in this paper tested three core constructs in Tinto’s (1993) Model of Student Departure within the context of Christian higher education. In addition, the research added a spiritual integration variable to Tinto’s model that could potentially help to better explain retention and attrition at Christian institutions of higher education. The findings related to the spiritual integration variable are reported here. The sample for this study consisted of the students who completed the Student Information Form, the Institutional Integration Scales, and the spiritual integration measure. These students were tracked for one year, from their initial enrollment in the fall semester of 2000 through the fall semester of 2001. Students were then placed into one of two groups. One group consisted of persisters, students who reenrolled for the fall semester of 2001. The second group consisted of withdrawers, students who did not return for the fall 2001 semester. Survey research and quantitative data analysis were utilized to gather information and answer four research questions. The surveys used in this study include the Student Information Form (2000), the Institutional Integration Scales (Pascarella and Terenzini 1980), and a spiritual integration measure (Schreiner 2000). The integration surveys were distributed in the spring 2001 semester, during the twelfth week of classes, to first-year students enrolled in a required Bible course. This study found that the construct of spiritual integration was a significant predictor of student persistence.