The impact of several environmental and institutional factors on college and university enrollments between 1975-76 and 1980-81 is examined. Separate enrollment analyses of public and private two-year and four-year institutions, and of the major doctoral, comprehensive, and baccalaureate institutions of four-year schools were made. (Author/MLW)

A previous study by Edwards and Waters (1982) was replicated and extended by incorporating a personal needs/college climate discrepancy index and a voluntary/nonvoluntary attrition breakdown. The use of undifferentiated, nonvoluntary, and voluntary attrition criteria yielded substantially different results in both the predictors of attrition and…

Findings from research studies that use the Defining Issues Test (DIT), a test of moral judgment development, are described. These findings are relevant to three major questions in higher education research: (1) the question of student outcomes (i.e., what does college experience do for and to people?); (2) the question of the relevance and…

In the late 1960s researchers noted signs of increased emotional impairment among college students. In 1974 Yankelovich reported indications of major reversals in the campus atmosphere suggesting a lessening of personal difficulties. Annual MMPI profiles of college males for 1965 to 1973 suggested changes in adjustment patterns supporting…

A study examined whether information about student approaches to making their course choices could have been used to identify those who subsequently changed or withdrew from their courses. Multivariate analysis indicated that combinations of the information could discriminate between students who persisted and those who withdrew. (Author/MLW)

This report is the result of a research effort that tried to find out what determines how much a student learns during his 4 years in college. The major purpose was to find partial answers to two basic questions. (1) If the input with respect to student ability is held constant, will identifiable groups of colleges have graduates showing greater…

Two research strategies for studying the effects of college environments on student development are compared, using Astin's data on academic achievement and institutional excellence." (Author)

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the factors influencing college student persistence in remaining in school. Persistence was examined at two points: after the first year and 4 years after enrollment. The study was conducted at an urban university using the American College Testing's Entering Student Survey and Student Opinion…

A questionnaire assessing the campus' social climate, the quality of its programs and instruction, and the students' academic and career expectations was administered to 100 disabled students. Analyses of the data revealed that the disabled students' motivation was significantly related to their level of social alienation. (Author/MLW)

Undergraduates living in residence halls (n=578) completed the Social Satisfaction Questionnaire (SSQ). SSQ scores predicted subsequent roommate breakups resulting from interpersonal conflict. The prediction of breakup provided by SSQ scores was superior to that for demographic variables, other indices of the relationship quality, and general…

The ability of Vroom's expectancy motivation theory to predict student satisfaction with the college environment, student participation at school, and student academic performance was studied. Specific objectives of the study were as follows: to test the ability of Vroom's valence model to predict student satisfaction, to test the ability of…

A design for improving the quality of information available for continuous operational study of student retention at the University of Hartford in Connecticut was examined involving a microcomputer based decision support system for student retention research. The system, an interactive modeling approach to conduct longitudinal and comparative…

This paper is a review of opinion and research concerning the objectivity and relevance of grades and grade averages as measures and as predictors of success. As measures they are ambiguous, reflecting differences in sex, basic temperament, instructors, departments, institutions, as much as levels of competence. And as a predictor of…