The Influence of Residential Status on the Adjustment to College at Four Urban Universities

Abstract

College student adjustment, success, and retention have been a focus of college administrators and student development professionals for decades. However, national college retention and graduation statistics are typically focused on full-time residential college populations. The purpose of the current study was to examine more closely the influence of commuting on the adjustment to college. Residential status, race or ethnicity, and gender were utilized as predictors of college adjustment for 359 college freshmen attending four diverse urban universities. The four subscales of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire were employed as outcome variables. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the model of residential status, gender, and race or ethnicity proved to be the best model and a significant predictor of the social adjustment and institutional attachment subscales of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire for the current population. Implications for future research and commuter student support programming are discussed.