Persistence in the Context of College
Don't be a statistic
The word persistence carries tremendous power, particularly for someone engaging in an adventure expected to last for years:
persistence (noun) - firm or stubborn continuance despite difficulty or opposition; perseverance
BREAKDOWN: PER- (through) + SIST- (stand firm) + -ENCE (act or state)
Persistence has a specific connotation in the context of college. National Student Clearinghouse Research Center tracks both college persistence and retention (another word everyone should know):
Persistence rate: the percentage of students who return to college at any institution for their second year
Retention rate: the percentage of students who return to the same institution
Why does this matter to each and every traveler on the road to college? Because the numbers behind these rates are not pretty:
Basically, the national persistence rate for students who started college in the fall of 2022 was 76.5%. The national retention rate was 68.2%.
Put another way, nearly 1 in 4 students fails to make it to the second year of college.
Nearly 1 in 3 students fails to graduate after 6 years of college.
Yes, there are ways to improve your individual odds—mainly meeting college readiness benchmarks and attending as a full-time student—but research makes abundantly clear the reality that getting into college is no guarantee of graduating. Always keep the meanings of persistence and retention in mind during your college journey!
This word is shared as part of the Words We Love Substack Carnival, a lexicon of lovable language compiled by some of your current or future favorite educators and writers on Substack. Enjoy all the Valentine’s Day vocabulary on the Words We Love 2025 page.