This project identified statistically significant predictors of first-year retention among 1991-92 freshmen who were enrolled in a rural midwestern comprehensive college. Results of a step-wise discriminant analysis indicated that college grade point average (GPA) was the best overall predictor of retention of first-year students (n=376). Results…

A survey of research literature on teenage alcohol use will reveal many variables related to teenage drinking. This study compared these variables in two separate communities to ascertain their global validity. To investigate factors leading to teenage alcohol use, 218 high school seniors from Washington and Iowa were surveyed. Dependent variables…

Attrition, which averages 40 percent among college freshmen, has been associated with academic skills, career decision making, psychological characteristics, and institutional climate. To determine the self-perceived developmental characteristics of college freshmen and the relationship of those characteristics to retention and grade point average…

The validity of students' first-quarter academic performance in predicting attrition at Central State University, Ohio, was investigated. It was hypothesized that freshmen who performed satisfactorily during the first quarter were more likely to complete their baccalaureate programs than were those who performed less well. Data on 287 students…

The problem of grade inflation and explanations for this phenomena are considered. Grade inflation is described as the positive change in grade point average of large numbers of students generally, over an extended period of time. The following array of causes or explanations are discussed: awarding high grades so that a student could go to…

The criterion most frequently used in studies designed to assess the predictive validity of measures used in college admission has been the freshman-year grade point average (GPA). It is not self-evident that the first-year GPA provides either a sufficient or a representative sample of a student's academic performance. Questions have been raised…

Summary statistics for students transferring to and from institutions of the University System of Georgia during the 1987-88 fiscal year (summer quarter 1987 through spring quarter 1988) were compiled for this report. The data are presented in five tables showing transfers from two-year colleges to senior colleges, from two-year colleges to…

This study examined the quality of students who continue in teacher education programs after completing the introductory courses. The purpose was to compare their academic proficiency with a group of students who had completed the same courses but did not continue on to teacher certification. Subjects were 74 graduates who went on to complete…

In Spring 1983, 124 second semester freshmen at the University of Maryland at College Park whose first semester grade point averages were below minimum requirements for graduation participated in a diagnostic and prescriptive interview program. Participants met with a counseling center staff person to help students first to identify the causes of…

Factors affecting student achievement (grade point average and national examination scores) at the end of high school in Greece were investigated. In addition to determining the achievement of high school graduates who applied to higher education in 1980 and 1981, information was collected on their preferences for admission to higher education…

A study was conducted to compare the academic progress of community college transfers, senior college transfers and continuing sophomores and juniors (natives) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) as measured by mean grade point average (GPA), academic status, and retention through eight terms after transfer. Study findings, based on…

A study was conducted to compare the academic progress of community college transfers, senior college transfers, and continuing juniors (natives) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) as measured by UIUC grade point average (GPA), academic status, and retention. Study findings, based on data on 762 community college transfers,…

Financial stress brought about by economic changes in farm communities affects the academic achievement of young adolescents. This effect is mediated by the social support of parents and degree of dissonance in young adolescents relationships with parents. Young adolescents, mothers, and fathers from 105 farm and nonfarm families participated in…

A study was conducted at Connecticut's Middlesex Community College (MxCC) to develop a profile of the college's 1988 graduates in terms of program area, age, sex, student status, attendance patterns, and grade point average (GPA). Study findings about the 272 graduates included the following: (1) the number of graduates was higher in 1988 than in…