There are many causes of poor academic performance among college students and many methods of assisting academic underachievers to improve their academic standing. A study was conducted to compare the rates of ongoing academic success of students who had been academically suspended and who reentered the university less than one year following…

A study compared the effects of retesting (with and without the benefit of short term instruction) on the scores of subjects in an upper-division university who had failed a writing test. Subjects who did not receive a passing score in their first attempt at the essay test were given the opportunity of attending a 4-hour workshop designed to…

The relationships among demands, coping resources, experienced stress, and well-being were studied in a cross-sectional survey of 210 reentry and 102 traditional women at the University of California, Irvine. The analysis was based on psychosocial stress theory and contextual analysis. Reentry women ranged in age from 26 to 66, with a mean age of…

There is little literature comparing personality differences between traditional (under age 25) and reentry women students (aged 25 and older). The purpose of the present study is to examine these differences. A background questionnaire and five additional scales: (1) the Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire (WOFO-3); (2) the…

College attendance by Italian and American women over age 30 is compared, and attention is directed to whether mature Italian and U.S. women who continue their education do so for similar reasons and whether they experience similar problems. The analysis is based on two studies of women over 30 in post-compulsory degree programs: (1) a study on…

In spring 1994, a study was conducted to compare student outcomes for instructors use of a mixed teaching repertoire (i.e., lecture, student-centered discussion, cooperative learning, and computer-assisted instruction) and those using lectures alone in social science, science/math, humanities, and business classes at Cosumnes River College, in…

Colleges and universities are having to design instructional formats for both traditional and nontraditional, second career individuals. To compare the learning styles and other related educational factors (e.g., test preferences, educational goals) of traditional and nontraditional students at the University of Akron (Ohio), 154 traditional…

A qualitative study examined the revision of writing on the word processor of two re-entering students in advanced composition in comparison to three traditional-age students. Its purposes were to see whether there was any difference in adaptation to the word processor between the two groups and whether each writer had a consistent revision…

Studies have indicated that mature women maintain a permanent role identity along two dimensions, i.e., traditional women or nontraditional women. However, the lifeset of many mature adult women may be on the continuum between these two positions, i.e., in the position of "deferred achiever." The personality variables and sex-role orientations of…

Women who reenter college after years of work or family responsibilities were compared to women with similar backgrounds who do not reenter school on measures of fear of success and achievement anxiety. A questionnaire designed to determine reentry status, age, socioeconomic standing, facilitating and debilitating anxiety, and fear of success was…

Factors that influence satisfaction and retention of nontraditional students in graduate programs of education were studied. The study participants attended a major, midwestern university and consisted of three groups: 10 Hispanic graduate students (26-58 years old); 10 Anglo graduate students (29-43 years old); and graduate faculty teaching the…

Trends and issues concerning college attendance by adult students are reviewed. Trends seem to suggest that the rising educational attainment of the general population will result in increased demand for learning activities by older students. Data are provided on: estimated college enrollments for 1990 and projected population and enrollments in…

A basic-skills testing remediation model for older, reentry college juniors was studied longitudinally and cross-validated against previous findings. Attention was directed to the rates of academic success and attrition for students entering an upper-division university in 1981 as juniors and seniors and majoring in business administration. The…

This study used data for a representative sample of 8th graders from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988. The intent was to (1) compare student's dropout status with variables such as demographics, academic and economic factors, limited English proficiency status, and other risk factors of dropping out, (2) distinguish factors…