Helping Students Make Informed Choices About College
Category: Pathways to and Through Postsecondary
Instrument Overview
Expert Notes AvailableView expert commentary on strengths and cautions for this instrument
Strengths
Measures multiple factors linked to college persistence and retention. Provides actionable insights into reasons students may consider leaving.
Cautions
Some subscales showed lower reliability than others. Predictive factors may vary across institutions and student populations. Administration time may be longer than shorter screening surveys.
The College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ) is a student survey designed to help colleges identify first-year students who may be at risk of leaving before their sophomore year. Developed by researchers William B. Davidson, Hall P. Beck, and Meg Milligan, the questionnaire measures students’ experiences, attitudes, and engagement during college. The CPQ includes items related to institutional commitment, degree commitment, academic integration, social integration, satisfaction with support services, and academic conscientiousness. Students complete the survey online using Likert-style response scales, and it typically takes less than 30 minutes to administer.
The CPQ was developed as an early warning and school improvement tool for colleges and universities. It can be used to identify students who may need additional advising or support, understand why students are considering leaving, and examine which factors are most connected to retention at a specific institution. The instrument was validated with undergraduate students at both 2-year and 4-year colleges, and research found that several CPQ scales predicted whether first-year students returned for their sophomore year. Colleges may use the CPQ for student support, program evaluation, and institutional planning related to student persistence and retention.
Organization
Collection Category(ies)
Content
Grades
Post secondary
Languages
English
Administration Information
Length
69 items
Access and Use
Developer
Davidson, Beck, & Milligan (2009)
Contact
bill.davidson@angleo.edu
Open Access
No
Use in Research
Beck, H. P., & Milligan, M. (2014). Factors influencing the institutional commitment of online students. The Internet and Higher Education, 20, 51-56.
Psychometrics (additional guidance)
Psychometric References
Lindheimer III, J. B. (2025). The College Persistence Questionnaire: Developing scales to assess student retention and institutional effectiveness (Doctoral dissertation, Appalachian State University).
Davidson, W. B., Beck, H. P., & Milligan, M. (2009). The college persistence questionnaire: Development and validation of an instrument that predicts student attrition. Journal of College Student Development, 50(4), 373-390.
https://www.beckdavidson.com/welcome/davidsonBeckMilligan2009.pdf
García-Ros, R., Pérez-Gónzalez, F., Castillo Fuentes, M., & Cavas-Martínez, F. (2019). Predicting First-Year College Student Retention: Validation of the College Persistence Questionnaire in a Spanish Sample. Sustainability, 11(16), 4425. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164425
Populations of Validation
Spanish (Garcia-Ros, 2019)
