This study compared the academic preparation, aspirations, and first-year college performance of first-generation college freshmen with other college freshmen at Indiana State University. It found that first-generation students were more likely to drop out during the first semester and had lower first-semester grades than students with one or more…

Argues that assessment, outcomes measurement, and prediction of attrition are separate but highly interrelated phenomena, with none meaningfully understood without reference to the other two. Suggests that the assessment process be the initial exercise, followed by periodic outcomes measurement used in conjunction with the assessment data to…