Presented By: Christopher Estepp, University of Arkansas
Co-Authors: Will Doss, University of Arkansas
Donald Johnson, University of Arkansas

Undergraduate student retention has been a persistent issue across institutions of higher education including colleges of agriculture. This is detrimental to the agricultural industry as projections predict a shortage of qualified agricultural graduates. During the fall 2022 semester, of the first-time freshmen students at [University] who entered the college of agriculture, 85.6% returned to the university as sophomores. However, 13.2% of these returning students transferred to majors outside of the college of agriculture, representing a loss of both enrollment and human capital for the agricultural industry. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine if significant (p < .05) differences existed on selected variables between students returning as college of agriculture majors (stayers; n = 170) and students returning to [University] as majors in other academic colleges (leavers; n = 26). Initial data were collected using an in-class survey (n = 229) during the fall 2022 semester; enrollment data for fall 2023 were provided by the registrar’s office. There were no significant differences between stayers and leavers for student club membership, attendance at the college of agriculture welcome event, on-campus residence, or first-generation college student status. However, stayers and leavers differed significantly on major (agriculture vs. human environmental sciences (HESC)) and sense of belonging in the college. HESC majors were significantly (p < .001) more likely to be leavers as compared to agriculture majors, with an odds ratio of 4.60, 95% CI [1.79, 11.87]. Leavers (M = 4.08, SD = 0.82) had a significantly (p = .05) lower sense of belonging in the college as compared to stayers (M = 4.36, SD = 0.62). Retention efforts should focus on engaging students to help develop a better sense of belonging in the college of agriculture, while further research should determine why HESC majors are more likely to leave the college.