This study examined first- to second-semester persistence of first-time, full-time college freshmen at a public four-year institution, focusing on Tinto's (1993) concept of separation. Data were collected from 689 first-time, full-time freshmen using the Cooperative Institutional Research Program 1995 Student Information Form, and from 411…

A design for improving the quality of information available for continuous operational study of student retention at the University of Hartford in Connecticut was examined involving a microcomputer based decision support system for student retention research. The system, an interactive modeling approach to conduct longitudinal and comparative…

The factors that determine course completion and achievement in college distance education were investigated using a sample of 25 courses offered through the Independent Learning Program at the Pennsylvania State University. The main objective was to develop a multivariate model to explain and predict outcomes of distance education. Additional…

A study was conducted to examine several academic and non-academic variables in terms of their relationship to student attrition at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC). The study sample consisted of 306 associate in arts degree-seeking students who first enrolled in fall 1981. Four groups of students, defined according to the last semester…

Differences in persisting and withdrawing students who entered the University of South Dakota's medical technology program during 1974-1984 were studied to provide information for career counselors. Data were collected for 200 students on high school grade point average (GPA), American College Testing (ACT) program scores, first semester college…

Basic background information on college student attrition research studies is provided. This paper is divided into nine components that were prominent in the existing literature: (1) higher education and the concern for attrition; (2) factors involved in college student attrition; (3) demographic factors involved in college student attrition; (4)…

Retention at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, was studied, based on the entire population of 29,372 undergraduate degree-seeking students enrolled in a semester between fall 1981 and 1987. Two measures of the retention rate are used: cohort survival, the percentage of the original cohort of entering students that is enrolled in or has…

The use of a combination of traditional cognitive admissions criteria and noncognitive variables in predicting retention of college students is discussed. The focus is on improving prediction by analyzing various subgroups separately rather than using the entire population as a sample. The subjects were freshmen in the fall semester of 1978 at a…

This article reviews the literature on university student attrition and comments on general implications for secondary school counselors. The reasons that dropouts leave school are assessed, e.g., lack of interaction with faculty, a perceived lack of progress, and financial/family problems; and characteristics of non-returning students are…

The way that the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has tried to depoliticize minority admissions through the use of predicted graduation equations that are race specific is examined. Multiple regression and discriminant analyses were used with nine independent variables (primarily academic) to predict graduation status of 1974 entering…

This document reviews the literature on elementary and secondary school dropouts and notes the effects and possible solutions to the dropout problem. Statistical findings about dropouts from the 1960's to the present are presented along with methods of predicting who the dropouts will be. Dropout characteristics, including psychological, social,…

While the educational structure seems to meet the needs of most students, a small but significant minority does not see the need to complete high school. To improve the identification of potential dropouts and describe the differences between dropouts and persisters, 536 Kentucky high school students and dropouts were studied. An unexpected…

The use of certain variables in predicting the probability of persistence to graduation for students majoring in business or nonbusiness was examined at Western State College of Colorado. The study sample consisted of 131 students from the 1977-78 graduating class, of whom 52 were nonbusiness majors and 79 were business majors. Predictions of…

Demographic, academic, and other college-related characteristics of the persisting and nonpersisting students at Old Dominion University were investigated during a one-year period from fall 1976 to fall 1977. Information was collected from the student master registration file for a study population of 11,637 undergraduates. The students ranged in…

As part of a multiphase study on male and female student attitudes towards Air Force technical training and the relationship between those attitudes and student performance, the 121-item Technical Training Student Survey (TTSS) was administered to 12,666 technical training students. The attitudes of students from high attrition courses were…