The purpose of this report was to obtain information on first semester dropouts from Southwest Wisconsin Vocational-Technical Institute (fall semester 1976) and to ascertain their reasons for leaving. A total of 135 individuals received questionnaires; response rate was 52%. Questionnaire items covered dropout characteristics, problems encountered…

Women who had been out of the educational system for some time and who had returned to a variety of college situations were interviewed in depth regarding their reasons for returning and the degree to which the colleges were meeting their needs as returning students. From the interview data, discussions with women's reentry program staff, and a…

Four reports are presented detailing procedures for improving the employability of students enrolled in the Los Angeles Community College District's Skill Training Improvement Programs (STIP II). Each report was submitted by one of the four STIP II programs: Los Angeles Southwest College's program for computer programming; the programs for…

Problems in the reading and study skills of students in City University of New York (CUNY) community colleges are the subject of this report. Questionnaires asking for information on factors related to these problems were completed by 496 CUNY students. Results indicate that, among other things: (1) there is a high correlation between reading and…

Discusses the importance of creating a learning community in the classroom to help stimulate community college student success. Urges teachers to examine teaching methods and modify content and delivery to meet the complex needs of each new community. Urges instructors to encourage cooperation among students and respect diverse talents and ways of…

Gathered information about the severity and frequency of community college student problems, through a survey of 65 public community college counselors. Most reported an increase in severity of personal problems (family, alcohol, self-worth), career (goals, job market), and educational problems (lack of skills, time management). Reports other…

This project was conducted to determine factors that contribute to the academic success or lack thereof of educationally disadvantaged vocational students and to develop a plan that will enhance success of persistent nonachieving students in the future. Educationally disadvantaged students at Mountain View Community College (Texas) were divided…

In fall 1983, a survey was mailed to approximately 1,100 students enrolled at the University of Kansas (KU) who had previously been enrolled at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) to determine their perceptions of their educational experiences at both institutions and to develop a profile of the demographic and academic characteristics of…

This paper addresses the special problems faced by rural community colleges, their staffs, and students. Financing problems are severely felt in rural areas where distances, low tax bases, absence of community resources, and the inability to take advantage of the economies of size add to the inflationary burden. The position of the college in the…

This is the second report of the Northern California Cooperative Research Project (NORCAL) on student attrition. Part I summarizes the findings of the initial NORCAL report on attrition characteristics (see ED 031 240) and compares them with other community college samples. It also discusses the validation of a predictive model for identifying…

Reviews the literature on the reasons that students drop out of college. Offers a plan for freshman retention that asks students about their goals at registration, provides them with a six-hour orientation emphasizing academic excellence, teams them with a faculty mentor, and includes a mandatory for-credit seminar on attending college. (DMM)

An ongoing concern for educators is the identification of factors that contribute to or are associated with academic achievement; one such group of variables that has received little attention are those involving stress. The relationship between perceived sources of stress and academic achievement was examined to determine if reactions to stress…

After discussing several issues related to the disproportionately large number of minority students who initiate baccalaureate studies at two-year colleges, this paper urges minority community colleges to strengthen the college transfer function. The paper first summarizes the problems and characteristics of today's community college transfer…

In order to determine the relationship between those courses students wished to take and those in which they actually enrolled, students were asked to indicate their course preference during fall 1977 registration. For each day of the registration process, the desired classes were compared with the number of students enrolled in each class.…

The transition from schooling to work has been recognized as a difficult one. As society has become more modernized, the problem of transition has become even more aggravated. American postsecondary education has a role to play in making this transition less difficult, and in integrating the educational process into the world of work. This…