Evaluation of a supplementary retention program for African-American baccalaureate nursing students

Abstract

This study evaluated the Minority Academic Advising Program (MAAP), a supplementary retention program established for African-American students enrolled in a southern state health sciences university's baccalaureate nursing program. The evaluation method merged a quasi-experimental with a time-series design. A group of 114 black students were included in the study. A comparison group consisting of 608 nursing student cohorts who were predominantly white was incorporated for control purposes. Although the students who were MAAP participants had significantly lower SAT scores, reduced Pre-Admission GPAs, and included a contingent of 11 students at high risk of failing, the following enhancements were identified: their retention-to-graduation rate increased 5.3 percentage points to 97.1%, their nursing program GPA increased nearly one-quarter letter grade, their time-persisted-in-program increased 0.7 months, and their nursing board examination pass rate increased 15 percentage points.