In 1989, staff from Rancho Santiago College's (RSC's) research office conducted telephone interviews with a random sample of 255 out of the 17,359 former students who attended RSC in spring 1989 but did not return for the next semester. The study was conducted to determine why students did not return, whether they accomplished their educational…

As part of a student retention project conducted at Spoon River College (SRC), specific populations served by SRC were identified; strategies to increase retention of particular student populations were developed; students in need of assistance were identified; and a transfer graduate follow-up study and two cohort tracking studies involving all…

This survey analyzes the characteristics of students who dropped all of their classes at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) before the college's census date. The survey finds that students who drop all of their classes are similar to students who remain enrolled, yet tend to be older, to hold a college-level degree, and to hold at least one…

Student attrition at the College of Staten Island was investigated. The 2,786 students who left school from the spring 1979 semester to the fall 1979 semester were selected for analysis using a survey developed by the National Center for Higher Education Management Services. Responses were obtained from 452 former students. Study variables were…

Accomplishments of St. Mary's University Student Retention Task Force are addressed. After reviewing the literature on the correlates of retention and approaches to improving student retention, statistical results of the 1982 administration of the Student Opinion Survey of the American College Testing program are provided. This survey explores…

A study was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) to determine why students withdrew from courses at two off-campus centers. Surveys were administered to a sample of 54 degree credit and 46 continuing education students who withdrew from classes at Hawthorne Center (HC) in fall 1981, and to 56 degree credit and 44 continuing education…

A study was conducted to identify the significant factors of student attrition in Wisconsin's postsecondary vocational, technical, and adult education system to determine predictability, and to indicate areas for improvement of retention measures. Survey instruments were developed to gather data from 121 non-completers and instructors. A third…

To determine factors influencing attrition and retention at Pennsylvania College of Technology, a survey was conducted of the 767 students who were enrolled in spring 1992 but neither graduated nor enrolled in fall 1992. Study findings, based on responses from 373 former students, included the following: (1) only 11% of the minority non-returners…

In July 1988, Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) initiated the Systematic Assessment of Leavers (SAL), a 2-year, 2-phase research activity to develop and implement a monitoring process to identify the personal, demographic, institutional, and environmental factors associated with leaving the college. The target populations of the study were…

In 1988, a National Dropout Statistics Task Force (comprised of representatives from 27 states, 3 U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia) was created to work with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to develop procedures for uniform counting of dropouts and dropout rate reporting. A standard definition was constructed for…

In winter 1992, a survey was conducted by the Arrowhead Community College Region (Minnesota) to determine why nonreturning full-time students had failed to return to Arrowhead colleges. A questionnaire was mailed to all fall 1991 nonreturning students, followed by a second mailing two weeks later to all non-respondents. Of the 421 nonreturning…

On the basis of several surveys and a review of the literature, this report examines various aspects of student retention at Frederick Community College (FCC). Chapter I introduces the report with a summary of FCC enrollment data and a discussion of the characteristics of non-persisters nationwide. Chapter II focuses on course and college…

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…

Characteristics and attendance patterns of persisters and dropouts from college and vocational/technical schools were studied, and a model of the persistence process was tested using data from the National Longitudinal Study (NLS), which surveyed high school seniors in 1972, with followup surveys in 1973 and 1974. Student persistence was defined…

In response to declines in enrollment and average daily attendance since 1975, Ohlone College conducted a study of student attrition which involved: (1) a telephone survey of the 2,593 students who enrolled in Fall 1979 and dropped out or withdrew from classes before the end of the quarter; (2) a mailed survey of the 15 members of the California…