Each generation of students inevitably must confront anew the fundamental questions of meaning and value that have vexed human beings down through the ages. As students have struggled with these "Big Questions," individually and collectively, liberal education has traditionally sought to provide them with a variety of cultural and historical…

Used survey data from Cooperative Institutional Research Program to develop empirical typology of college students. Seven student types were identified: Scholar, Social Activist, Artist, Hedonist, Leader, Status Striver, and Uncommitted Student. Results of validity analyses suggest that each of seven types possesses construct and predictive…

The major purpose of the present study was to answer a series of related questions concerning college dropouts: What is the current dropout rate nationally among students attending colleges in the United States? How do dropout rates vary by type of institution? In what ways do dropouts and nondropouts differ? What factors in the college…

Compared course-based service learning and generic community service through a quantitative, longitudinal look at over 22,000 students at diverse colleges and universities. Compared student outcomes related to values and beliefs, academic skills, leadership, and future plans. Of particular interest was the finding that connecting service with…

The findings suggest that highly reliable estimates of environmental characteristics can be obtained with scales comprising only a few items. Thus it seems that subject time and expense could be greatly saved if future studies of college environmental characteristics utilize factorially derived scales based on small numbers of items. (Author)

The results suggest that the impersonal environments of the large universities may be inherently conducive to the development of disruptive protest, and particularly of protest that involves violence. Furthermore, the large institutions appear to be less responsive than smaller colleges to such protest. (Author)

Presents a student development theory based on student involvement, which refers to the quantity and quality of the physical and psychological energy students invest in their college experience. Discusses implications for practice and research. (JAC)

This is the first in a series of reports on a national study of college students spiritual development currently being conducted at the Higher Education Research Institute. The results are derived from a sample of 3,680 undergraduates attending 46 diverse colleges and universities across the United States. Each student completed a specially…

In May of 1972 the Higher Education Panel (HEP) of the American Council on Education conducted a survey of colleges and universities across the U.S. to determine the type and amount of campus disruption caused by the April 1972 increased bombing effort in North Vietnam by the U.S. It was found that: (1) an estimated 27% of the colleges and…

A fair amount of what we know about college students and how they are affected by their college experience has been learned from the data gathered in the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP). In this article, CIRP's founder surveys the past, present, and future of the thirty-seven-year-old program. (Contains 12 references.) (GCP)

Critiques written by J. Bruce Francis, Gerald Gurin, Arthur W. Chickering, and G. Lester Anderson of Astin's "Four Critical Years" are discussed. Points of agreement and contention between the reviewers concern the effects of college on students. (SF)

The 23rd annual report of national normative data on the characteristics of students attending American colleges and universities as first-time, full-time freshmen is presented. This project of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program of the American Council on Education and the Graduate School of Education at the University of California,…

The American Council on Education has been conducting a longitudinal research study to assess the impact of different college environments on the student's development and to provide a source of current, readily available, descriptive information about the student population. The findings presented in this paper are based on the followup of the…