Abstract: Researchers do not yet know if Tinto's model of academic persistence holds for academically talented students. This study examined non-intellective factors that may guide academic persistence decisions with honors college women: (1) family background, (2) goal commitment, (3) faculty and staff interactions, (4) peer group interactions, and (5) educational self-efficacy. The study sample consisted of 158 honors college female freshmen at a large southwestern university who were recruited at the beginning of a three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) funded counseling intervention, entitled Gender Equity Options in Science (GEOS). This cross-sectional study emerged from the broader GEOS longitudinal study and examined only the survey information collected at the time of initial recruitment, before the counseling intervention was employed. Multiple regression analyses revealed that three of the five constructs (goal commitment, faculty and staff interactions, and educational self-efficacy) predicted persistence decisions. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that university environment was the most powerful predictor of persistence decisions, accounting for 47.1% of the variance. Educational self-efficacy added another 5.9% of the variance, and mentoring added another 2.4%. The full model accounted for 55.5% of the variance in academic persistence decisions and showed that Tinto's model of academic persistence holds for honors college women. Findings are discussed in light of the need for researchers and counselors to focus less on intrapsychic variables that predict persistence with honors college women and to focus more attention on environmental variables and the interactional process of academic persistence.