Student retention has become a difficult issue within higher education. As such, it is imperative to examine the causes, as well as provide educators with strategies to implement to improve retention rates. "Critical Assessment and Strategies for Increased Student Retention" is a pivotal reference source for the latest progressive…

Participation rates in parenting programs are typically low, severely limiting the public health significance of these interventions. We examined predictors of parenting program enrollment and retention in a sample of 325 divorced mothers. Predictors included intervention timing and maternal reports of child, parent, family, and sociocultural risk…

Psychological researchers continue to debate the relative contribution of ability and effort to feelings of self-worth. To investigate student preferences for ability or effort and their relationship to self-worth, and to assess the relative contribution of ability and effort to affective experience, two separate studies were undertaken. In the…

Using discriminant analysis, factors influencing teacher attrition were studied using three groups of University of Michigan graduates with teaching certificates: (1) those who taught continuously; (2) those who left teaching within five years; and (3) those who never taught. Implications for school administration, teacher training, and further…

Using discriminant analysis, a study examined (1) the extent to which the new Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire (SACQ) accurately predicts student departure for a private, comprehensive university (n=1,978 students); (2) SACQ items distinguishing nonpersisters; (3) use with an incoming class; and (4) evidence linking the SACQ with…

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the factors influencing college student persistence in remaining in school. Persistence was examined at two points: after the first year and 4 years after enrollment. The study was conducted at an urban university using the American College Testing's Entering Student Survey and Student Opinion…

Discussion of variables that affect successful completion of external degree programs focuses on a study that investigated the association between learning style and persistence among students from the University of Wisconsin System Extended Degree Programs. Literature on distance education is reviewed, and results of the study are analyzed. (35…

The Bean and Metzner Nontraditional Undergraduate Student Attrition Model appeared to be a good model to address community college student attrition because it takes into account the environmental variables that colleges must consider to enhance persistence. A study was conducted to determine how well the Bean and Metzner Model fit with community…

Data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Follow-Up Surveys were used to study student retention at four-year colleges and universities. Data used were from the 1985-1988 follow-up surveys of 1981-1984 freshmen. Student data were also requested directly from the institutions themselves, concerning degree earned, number of years…

The hierarchical clustering technique was used to differentiate college dropouts from persisters, and to determine how student clusters differ from one another on relevant outcome variables. Subjects were 618 freshmen who entered a community college with the intention of completing a two-year associate degree. There were 432 persisters who…

This paper presents a theoretical discussion of how students make educational behavior decisions including attending a given institution, transferring, or dropping out. The theory is seen to apply to students of all ages and both sexes with implications for all areas of postsecondary education. The theory holds that educational decisions are based…

A 3-institution study investigated the effectiveness of transfer of 1,786 Los Rios Community College students to the University of California at Davis and California State University at Sacramento, measured by student preparation, persistence, and performance before and after transfer. Need for remediation. before transfer was also examined.…

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…

Random samples of 1979 and 1980 entering freshmen were given the Non-Cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ), which was designed to assess noncognitive dimensions predicting minority student academic success. The validity of the NCQ in predicting graduation after five and six years was determined. The graduation rate was found to differ significantly for…

Presents a look at individual responsibility and decision making (here defined as planfulness) and how it is affected by external factors of social and economic turmoil. Utilizes data from a longitudinal study of privileged men born between 1904 and 1917 and their educational attainment in subsequent years. (MJP)