Student Institutional Loyalty: A Structural Model Based on Astin’s Theory of Student Involvement

This study investigated the factors influencing institutional loyalty among incoming first-year college students, focusing on the mediating role of student satisfaction, guided by the Student Involvement Theory. Employing a quantitative, descriptive-correlational design with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the research surveyed Grade 12 Senior High School students in a private institution in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines, who intended to enroll in its undergraduate programs for the Academic Year 2024–2025. The study used stratified random sampling to ensure proportional representation of students from different strands (e.g., STEM, HUMSS, ABM, and TVL), with a minimum sample of 200 respondents selected to guarantee that variations across academic tracks were adequately represented. The findings revealed that while academic involvement did not indirectly and significantly influence institutional loyalty, its effect could be mediated by other variables, underscoring the complexity of student attachment. Conversely, student involvement in non-academic activities demonstrated a significant positive effect on institutional loyalty, with student satisfaction playing a partial mediating role in this relationship. This highlighted the importance of social engagement in fostering a sense of belonging and commitment to the institution, which in turn enhanced loyalty. This indicated that their influence on loyalty was realized primarily through enhancing students’ satisfaction with their educational experiences. The model demonstrated acceptable fit indices, supporting the hypothesized relationships. This research addressed a gap in Philippine educational literature by examining pre-college loyalty intentions and offered valuable insights for higher education institutions to develop early retention strategies and engagement programs that prioritized academic involvement and cultivated student satisfaction. Future research might be directed toward exploring other factors that could mediate the indirect effects from academic and non-academic involvement towards institutional loyalty. Understanding these dimensions could offer a more comprehensive picture of what encouraged students to remain committed to their academic institution.