Instructional and Student Services Costs in Private Postsecondary Education and Retention Rates in Texas

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-predictive study was to determine to what extent, if any, instructional costs and student services costs together and separately predict retention rates in the state of Texas in private postsecondary institutions. The decisions on where post-secondary institutions allocate their funds, has become an imperative. Based on Tinto’s theory of institutional departure, the predictor variables were instructional costs and student services costs, and the criterion variable was retention rates of postsecondary private institutions in Texas. Ninety-nine Post-secondary institutions were used for this study. The data used for the study were secondary data obtained from IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Data Systems). The results of the multiple linear regression indicated that there was a collective significant effect of instructional costs on retention rates F(1,58) = 4.754, p<.05, Adjusted R2 = .060). If the instruction cost increases by 1 unit, the average retention rate increased by 6.61 units. This indicates that there is a positive relationship between instructional costs and retention rates. The results of student services costs only showed p = 0.33, which is more than the expected 0.05 level of significance.