As enrollment in online graduate education increases, retention continues to be problematic for many colleges and universities across the United States. Retention is greatly influenced by persistence or continued enrollment from one term to the next. Non-traditional students, who represent the majority of online graduate student enrollment, have unique issues related to persistence considering they often must juggle the demands of graduate school with work and families. The competing demands can lead to increased levels of perceived stress, which can impact academic performance due to increased mind wandering and decreased attention. Mindfulness is a practice that has been shown in the literature to decrease levels of perceived stress and mind wandering, therefore, the integration of mindfulness practice could have a positive effect on student persistence in online graduate education. The purpose of this explanatory sequential dissertation was to examine relationships between, and factors related to student self-reported perceived stress, mind wandering, and persistence (i.e., degree/ institutional commitment) and to explore the impact of teaching mindfulness to online graduate students. A total of 31 online graduate students completed Module One of an open access course, "Mindfulness and Optimal Performance" and the associated pre- and post-surveys. The pre-and post-surveys included valid and reliable instruments to measure self-reported levels of perceived stress, mind wandering, and persistence. To expand on and clarify the quantitative results, six one-on-one interviews were conducted after the post-survey. Self-report levels of perceived stress and mind wandering were significantly lower after students completed Module One of an open access mindfulness course. Self-reported perceived persistence levels were found to be significantly higher after Module One with students in the first or second quarter of their program, students with little or no mindfulness experience, and students who meditated four or more times a week. Furthermore, students interviewed felt that the course provided excellent foundational information about mindfulness that could be immediately applied, and therefore should be a requirement for all incoming students. Given the findings, the recommendation is for colleges and universities to offer education on mindfulness to all incoming students as a way to support students holistically and provide strategies to help students manage their stress, increase their focus, and potentially increase their persistence to graduation.