While South African higher education has, in many respects, achieved remarkable achievements since 1994, a series of serious problems continue to beset the system, and a low internal (high attrition rate) and external (alignment with the employment market) efficiency. There also exist the problems of large scale youth unemployment and the policy…

If non-completion rate is to be a useful performance indicator it must reflect the recent health of a course in a transparent and robust manner that enables comparisons to be made between groups of students and between courses of varied structures. For flexible degree programmes with varied attendance modes and multiple entry points, traditional…

This study focuses on the effect of using a computer-based competitive learning system called LearnStar, as supplementary instruction in introductory chemistry courses. The outcomes evaluated were of student performance on classroom exams, the cumulative final, overall course grade, overall DFW rate (the percentage of student receiving a D, F, or…

The relationship between student dropout and high school grades, demographic factors and psychosocial variables was examined for 40 682 full-time Dawson College students. Overall, low high school grades and older age were the best predictors of dropout. Male students, who generally had lower grades than females, were more likely to drop out than…

This paper reviews a study of persistence patterns of first-time first-year students during 1986-90 in all public senior institutions (n=35) in Texas. The study provides data to assist student affairs practitioners to evaluate their own attrition problem and to compare and delineate their patterns from a statewide perspective. (GLR)

This report provides data on public and private high school graduates and dropouts in Kentucky. The introduction contains tables and graphs comparing the career directions (attending college or trade school, military, working, at home, unemployed, deceased, homemakers, and unknown) of Kentucky graduates in 1968 and 1983 and enrollment patterns…

Focusing on the controversy over whether community colleges aid or hinder their students' socioeconomic attainment, this paper aims to definitively determine the effects of these institutions and to explore how they produce those effects. The first section critically synthesizes research comparing the community college and other postsecondary…

Describing outcomes related to student retention and graduation in the University System of Georgia, this six-part report discusses definitions and assumptions pertaining to retention and compares success rates for black, white, developmental studies, and regularly-admitted freshmen students in USG senior and two-year colleges. Section 1 provides…

The performance of the Peninsula Academies of Electronics and Computer Technology was assessed for the program's third year of operation in two host schools in the Sequoia Union High School District. Data were collected for approximately 190 Academy students and for a comparison group of non-Academy students. Academies students missed fewer days…