Document Type

Honors Thesis

Publication Date

Spring 2015

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between service-learning and retention rates
at the University of Maine. The thesis focuses on demographic factors that influence
retention rates. These factors include gender, institutional connection, debt, college of
study, and academic performance. The sample subjects were undergraduate students
enrolled at the University of Maine. Students who were enrolled in known service
learning courses were specifically targeted, as well as the general population, so that the two groups could be compared. The study found that there was a strong correlation between service-learning and community service with a student’s affective commitment. In other words, most students who had done community service or service-learning would have statistically scored higher on the Meyer school commitment scale. When tying in commitment to retention rates, results also indicate that a high affective commitment was directly correlated with a high likelihood to graduate from the University of Maine.

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Business Commons

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