Retention and Graduation of STEM Students at a Majority Hispanic Serving Institution: Effect of Participation in a Freshman Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences Sequence

Research training is an important intervention for preparing undergraduate students to pursue further studies and develop research skills. Furthermore, there is mounting evidence indicating that mentored research impacts student success metrics. At the University of Texas at El Paso, a Freshman Year Research Intensive Sequence (FYRIS) was developed to prepare first-year students for research experiences. The FYRIS courses combine research foundations and research-intensive courses. In this manuscript, we present findings demonstrating the impact of FYRIS and subsequent mentored research experiences on 4-year retention and graduation. Results suggest that participation in FYRIS and independent mentored research has a large positive impact on 4-year retention and graduation, while other historical socioeconomic variables have minimal to no impact.