Although used frequently in related fields such as K-12 education research, educational psychology, sociology, and social survey research, latent class analysis (LCA) has been infrequently used in higher education. This article provides higher education researchers with a pedagogical application of LCA to classify entering freshmen based on their…

Many researchers have explored the relationships between the likelihood of graduating from college and demographic and pre-college factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, high school grade point average (GPA), and standardized test scores. However, additional factors such as a student's college major, home address, or use of learning support in…

This study highlights factors associated with changes in earned hours for two cohorts of incoming freshmen during their first year. The objectives of this study are twofold: (a) to derive model(s) regressing the cumulative hours earned and differential hours earned on student demographic, socioeconomic, and academic characteristics; and (b) to…

Studies in the field of learning analytics (LA) have shown students' demographics and learning management system (LMS) data to be effective identifiers of "at risk" performance. However, insights generated by these predictive models may not be suitable for pedagogically informed interventions due to the inability to explain why students…

The study used pre-college variables in the prediction of retention and probation status of first-year students in learning communities at a regional public university in South Texas. The correlational study employed multivariate analyses on data collected from the campus registrar about three consecutive cohorts (N = 4,215) of first-year…

Using cross-sectional data, we examined the financial information sources, financial knowledge, and financial practices of young adults, many of whom are first generation college students, ethnic minorities, and immigrants or children of immigrants. Participants (n = 1,249) were undergraduate students at a large regional comprehensive university.…

This study explored the effects of collaborative writing instruction on undergraduate nursing students' writing performance and self-efficacy beliefs within an online learning system. A single-group experimental study utilized two instruments, the NCEEC (National College Entrance Examination Center) writing grading criteria (the SRCT) and a…

The study presented here is an elaboration on recent educational effectiveness research focusing on long-term school effects. Central in this study is the approach to teaching at secondary schools and its relation to student perception of the fit between school and university and 1st-year academic achievement. Based on previous research, a coding…

The purpose of this study was to explore correlates of chronic career indecision with multivariate modeling. We examined the effects of neuroticism and negative career thoughts and feelings on lack of information, which is one of the core elements of chronic career indecision. The sample included 310 first-semester students who had entered…

This study examined the effects of an adventure orientation program on the student development behaviors of incoming first-year students at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. Student development was measured by a condensed version of the Student Development Task Inventory-2 (CSDTI-2; Gass, 1986; Winston, Miller, & Prince, 1979). Data…

The fulfillment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as postulated within self-determination theory was hypothesized to play an energizing role in identity formation, conceptualized as multiple dimensions of exploration and commitment. Two studies among high school and college students (N = 714) were conducted…

This is the final report of the National Evaluation of Student Support Services (SSS). SSS is one of eight federally funded grant programs that are administered as part of the Federal TRIO Programs within the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The SSS program, in particular, focuses on students while they are enrolled in college. In general, SSS…