Building upon the research findings in an earlier ACT Research Report (Westrick, 2016), this study used data from 119,131 students at 26 four-year institutions to make comparisons between STEM majors earning semester GPAs of 3.0 or higher and their STEM peers earning semester GPAs less than 3.0. The results indicate that the higher-performing…

Using date from 120,612 students at 26 four-year institutions, this report provides a description of STEM majors entering four-year postsecondary institutions and those who persist through four years of study. The results indicate that persisting STEM majors enter college with very high levels of pre-college academic achievement as measured by the…

A reporting and study format for the investigation of university student retention is presented. Student progression and loss is shown graphically and in tabular form to enable ready comprehension and encourage data exploration. Data obtained at Virginia Commonwealth University for 1977-80 are used as illustration. Two ways of viewing student…

This collection of statistics provides information on dropout rates in Arizona public schools. A dropout was defined as a student who was enrolled at the end of the 1991-92 school year or at any time during the 1992-93 school year, who was not enrolled at the end of the school year and whose absence could not be explained by transfer, graduation,…

System-wide data on student retention and attrition prepared by the Central Staff Office of Institutional Research for the State University of New York is presented, with minimal narrative. Attrition/retention information is reported as of the fall 1978 semester on: (a) five cohorts of first-time, full-time students in baccalaureate programs; (b)…

This report examines the characteristics and first-year behaviors of beginning postsecondary students entering public 2-year, public 4-year, and private, not-for-profit 4-year institutions of higher education, based on data derived from the 1995-96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. The report begins with an essay that describes the…

Statistical data and some descriptive analysis on persistence/attrition for various ethnic groups entering Michigan State University are presented. Data for students entering the university from fall 1973 to fall 1978 show that at the end of summer 1979: (1) Chicanos had the highest noncompletion rate; (2) although Whites have the highest…