An evaluation of the TRIO/Special Services program at the University of Minnesota, General College, is presented. Descriptions are provided of program operations, services offered, the program participants, and student eligibility. Program effectiveness is also assessed in terms of student outcomes, and individual program services are examined as…

The Asian Commanding English (CE) program at the General College, University of Minnesota, which provides coursework in reading, writing, and oral communication to students from Southeast Asia, is described. The program was selected as a model for the development of a retention package specifically directed to the Southeast Asian student…

A study of a summer bridge program's effects on low-income and minority groups students during their first year at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that such programs can facilitate transition and adjustment to university or college life and improve academic performance and persistence rates. (Author/MSE)

A study reported the status of approximately 2,900 participants in the student-support-services program for disadvantaged college students, and of 2,900 comparable nonparticipating students three years after college entry, looking at grades received, number of credits accumulated, and retention rates. The study also collected information on how…

Remedial or developmental courses are the most common policy instruments used to assist underprepared postsecondary students who are not ready for college-level coursework. However, despite its important role in higher education and its substantial costs, there is little rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of college remediation on the outcomes…

A study was conducted at Laramie County Community College to assess the performance of developmental students and evaluate the effectiveness of the college's testing and placement system. The study tracked students entering in fall 1993 whose placement scores identified them as developmental to determine actual enrollment and performance in…

The process of transitioning from secondary to postsecondary education can be very complex and challenging. Many freshmen students are coming to college underprepared and in need of developmental education. The role of student services is to assist these students and their families with this important transition to postsecondary education by…

Ferris State University's (FSU's) Collegiate Skills Program assists academically underprepared students in their transition to college. The program was initiatied in fall 1985 in response to increasing numbers of entering freshmen with inadequate reading and writing skills and subsequent high rates of attrition. Focusing initially on students with…

More than 90% of Bronx Community College (BCC) (New York) students require remedial coursework, and more than 90% also qualify for federal and state aid. Almost all of the freshmen at BCC are the first in their families to attend college. Most of the student body are women, many of whom have children, and there is a large population of…

To obtain a quantitative meta-analysis of studies addressing the effects of community college Developmental Studies Programs (DSPs) on students enrolled in higher education, an analysis was undertaken of a sample of studies culled from journal articles, dissertations, unpublished works found in ERIC, and published and unpublished proceedings of…

Issues pertaining to the retention of black students, particularly those attending predominantly white colleges and universities, are reviewed, based on a survey of the literature. Three categories of concerns were found in the literature: ways of conceiving black student retention; factors affecting retention; and strategies and remedies to…

In 1981, a study was conducted to investigate the academic performance and persistence patterns of developmental students who matriculated at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) between 1977 and 1979. Specifically, the study sought to determine the proportion of developmental students who successfully completed developmental and subsequent…

The Student Support Services Program, in the student affairs division, has been a counseling and tutorial program at Chicago State University since 1978. The program's goal is to increase the retention and graduation rates of the university's students. The program's focus is to monitor extensively each participant's first year at the university…

In response to statewide reductions in funding for remedial college programs, the English and speech faculty at Daley College (DC) developed and implemented a special block program in fall 1988 for remedial/developmental students. The goal of the program is to prepare remedial students for college-level work within the 30 hours of remediation…

Retention and attrition after the freshman year among disadvantaged students at a senior college of the City University of New York were studied. A conceptual model of Tinto (1975) was applied to a group of students participating in the Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) program, which provided remedial and/or developmental…