Improving student retention is an important and challenging problem for universities. This paper reports on the development of a student attrition model for predicting which first year students are most at-risk of leaving at various points in time during their first semester of study. The objective of developing such a model is to assist…

This study was designed to investigate the factors that affect master's student persistence in the United States. More specifically, this study explored whether the following factors: students' background, institution's, academic, environmental and psychological influences, had a significant effect on whether a master's student persisted and/or…

Student retention is the field of institutional research that has (deservedly) had the most attention. Besides the models proposed by Tinto (1975, 1993), there have been many theoretical and applied papers on many aspects of student retention. These include demographic characteristics, scholastic scores, financial and residential considerations,…

One of the biggest challenges facing distance education programs is attrition. One potential way of reducing attrition is to foster a sense of community among students. Students who are emotionally and intellectuality invested in each other and in their program are more likely to prosper in a multi-year distance program. This paper briefly…

The first phase of a study to predict retention and withdrawal among disadvantaged students at an urban commuter institution is described. Variable selection for the study was guided by Tinto's (1975) and Bean's (1982) models. Pilot testing was undertaken to estimate some psychometric characteristics of Pascarella and Terenzini's institutional…

This study examined the impact of variables related to competence and identity as protective factors in a group of at-risk dropouts and at-risk graduates of high school. Participants consisted of 99 at-risk students (35 females and 64 males) drawn from a continuation high school in an urban school district and 24 high school students (9 female and…

This study tested the convergent and discriminant validity between two theories of college persistence: the Student Attrition Model and the Student Integration Model. The study examined conceptual similarities for each theory to explain departure decisions and examined how both theoretical frameworks enhanced the understanding of the processes…

Institutional variables are examined in an effort to account for the differences in retention rates at institutions classified as Liberal Arts Colleges II. The four study objectives were to: (1) develop a theoretical model to explain retention rates at different Liberal Arts Colleges II in which the institution is the unit of the analysis, (2)…

This study applied the methodology of competing risks survival analysis to determine the probability that a student's first enrollment in the university will end in graduation, transfer, or withdrawal. The risk factors associated with each mode of exit were assessed, with attention to factors such as admission status, full-time or part-time…

The relationship between job performance and job satisfaction was evaluated using a longitudinal model. During the winter quarter of 1987, approximately 2,000 students at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) received a student satisfaction survey designed to measure student opinions about programs and services at the university and department…

Relationships between constructs in the Tinto model of college student withdrawal were explored. Within the Tinto model, LISREL was used to examine: (1) the influence of academic integration on social integration and vice versa; and (2) the effect of goal commitment on institutional commitment and vice versa. Survey data were collected at a major…

A theoretical model of turnover in work organizations was applied to the college student dropout process at a major midwestern land grant university. The 854 freshmen women subjects completed a questionnaire that included measures for 14 independent variables: grades, practical value, development, routinization, instrumental communication,…

The shortcomings of current research on student attrition are reviewed, and ways are described in which multiple regression, path analysis, and a recursive causal model can be used to better understand attrition. A review of the research shows that past theoretical models lack an adequate definition of variables which have resulted in their being…

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…

Tinto's conceptual schema of college dropout forms the theoretical framework for the development of a model of university student dropout intention. This study validated Tinto's model in two different departments within a single university. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 684 college freshmen in the Education and Economics Department. A…