Developing and Testing a Measure of Perceived Barriers to Persistence to Graduation: A Cohort Study Among Multiethnic U.S. College Students

Objective: This study developed and tested the Perceptions of Barriers to Persistence to Graduation Scale (PBPS). Method: Data were collected from three cohorts of undergraduates (Cohort 1: N = 649; Cohort 2: N = 412; Cohort 3: N = 529) sampled approximately 12–14 months apart beginning fall of 2021. Each cohort had ∼25% African American, Asian American, White, and Latinx students, with <3% Native Americans. Gender distributions ranged from 45.2%–49% male, 48.8%–52.6% female, and 0%–2.3% nonbinary/transgender. Mean ages: 20.2–23.11 years (SD = 2.07–6.94). Qualtrics Panels recruited participants and administered PBPS items. Results: Exploratory factor analysis identified 10 barrier factors, with home/family disruptions as the most impactful barrier. Confirmatory factor analysis supported model fit; tests of invariance confirmed configural, metric, and scalar invariance. Conclusions: The PBPS is useful for assessing perceptions of barriers to persistence to graduation. Researchers can measure the impact of barriers across undergraduate populations. Counselors can assess barriers’ impacts on individual students’ persistence.