INFLUENCE OF STUDENT SUPPORT POLICIES ON RETENTION RATES OF UNDERGRADUATES IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

The study examined the influence of students support policies on retention rates of undergraduates in public universities in Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study was conducted in South East, Nigeria. The population of the study comprised 689 final year undergraduates of educational management and planning (policy) in the 2025/2026 academic session from seven universities in South East, Nigeria. The sample of the study consisted of 207 final year undergraduates of educational management and planning (policy) in the 2025/2026 academic session from seven universities in South East, Nigeria. Two structured validated questionnaires which were developed by the researcher was used for the collection of data. The test of reliability using Cronbach Alpha yielded reliability co-efficient of 0.78 and 0.86 for clusters A and B respectively with an overall reliability co-efficient of 0.82 for QSSP and 0.87 for QURR. Mean, standard deviation and t-test were used for the analysis of data.  Finding of the study revealed that students academic support policies and financial support policies positively influence retention rates of undergraduates in public universities in Nigeria. The researcher concludes that student support policies positively influence retention rates of undergraduates in public universities in Nigeria. The researcher therefore recommended among others that University management and regulatory bodies should strengthen academic support policies to provide effective academic assistance that improves undergraduate retention. It was also recommended that Federal and State Governments, through relevant education agencies, should increase funding for financial student support policies to reduce the financial burden on undergraduates and minimise dropout rates