This High Impact Practices (HIPS) contribute to higher retention and graduation rates. HIPS are effective for racial and ethnic minorities in particular, who disproportionately experience high and persistent levels of postsecondary attrition. Little is known about the mechanism by which HIPS promote retention. Based on a random survey of 268…

A sample of dropouts is surveyed to determine their reasons for dropping out of school and to assess the factors currently used by the Dade County (Florida) school system to identify at-risk students. Data from telephone surveys of a randomly-selected sample of 2,779 persons who dropped out of grades 7 through 12 during 1986-87, 1987-88, and…

In spring 1992, Charles County Community College (CCCC) conducted a telephone survey of non-returning fall 1991 students to determine their reasons for not returning to CCCC. In order to obtain comparison data, a questionnaire designed and administered by Prince George's Community College (PGCC) (Largo, Maryland) in 1988 was used with one minor…

Reasons that students enter or leave the University of Montana (UM) were studied in fall 1983. Consideration was given to first-term freshmen of traditional age, slightly older students (under age 25), transfer students, dropouts, and students who persisted at the university for 1 academic year. In study phase 1, attention was directed to…

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…

Factors that influenced the withdrawal of academically ineligible black students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were investigated. It is suggested that students who involuntarily withdraw are rarely consulted as to their reasons for leaving and that academic ineligibility may mask many of the same reasons for withdrawing as…

In fall 1992, a study was conducted at Sinclair Community College (SCC) in Dayton, Ohio, to determine factors contributing to former students' decisions not to return to the college. Two groups of former students were included the study: those who had last attended in fall 1990 and had thus been absent for 6 quarters, and those who had last…

This report summarizes the results of a statewide survey of nonreturning freshmen (n=621) at Maryland public 4-year campuses. The former students were asked about the factors that were most instrumental in their departure from their institution, their reaction to their college experience, their likelihood of re-enrolling, and their level of…

Attrition among urban engineering students at Stevens Institute of Technology was studied. At the time of the student's college entry, various ability, achievement, personality, interest, and biographical factors were analyzed in an effort to predict student persistence, withdrawal, or academic failure. For the 381 male students who entered the…

The extent to which Tinto's model of college withdrawal has predictive validity in different types of postsecondary institutions was tested during the 1978-79 and 1979-80 academic years. Secondary analyses were conducted on a sample of 2,326 freshman students from 11 diverse institutions participating in project CHOICE (to better inform…

Utilizing the responses of 385 women to a district-wide community needs assessment conducted in March 1980, as well as information gathered from personal interviews with 400 women students, Santa Ana College (SAC) conducted a project to increase the awareness among women of SAC's programs and services and to determine: (1) women's degree of…