The study empirically examines the effects of economic and non-economic variables on college persistence by presenting a causal model that relies on both economic theory and V. Tinto's Student Integration Model in order to enhance an understanding of the role of finances on the college persistence process. Analyses conducted upon a sample of 466 college students attending a large public urban institution examined the effects of ability to pay on measures of academic integration, social integration, institutional commitment, goal commitment, intent to persist, and persistence. Findings were largely supportive of the Student Integration Model, and indicate that financial variables moderate the effects of several variables in the causal model. (Author/JDD)