The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if student background variables (age, gender, race, academic preparation); student status (part/full-time student), and student circumstances (commuting distance, independent/dependent financial student status) could predict fall-to-spring attrition (2006-2007) in a sample of 542 first-time,…

Questions theoretical frameworks established by past research thought to explain the minority student college attrition rate. Finds the unexplained attrition (possibly influenced by unknown factors) of American Indian students to be 50 percent relative to the Anglo population, despite controls for differences other than ethnic origin. Indicates…

Considers how institutions can retain minority group students (MGSs) and ensure that they obtain degrees. Discusses traits identified in the literature that affect MGSs' social integration, including student/student interactions, satisfaction with college life, social isolation, social support, and self-esteem. Institutions must meet students'…

The academic persistence of undergraduate students at Arizona State University was studied. Demographic and academic profiles were developed, and persistence rates were calculated for the overall population of 3,166 freshmen, and by gender and ethnicity. Additional demographic variables were residency status and age. The academic variables…

Investigates whether and to what extent noncognitive and traditional precollege variables (such as American College Testing scores) predict first-semester grade point average and enrollment factors for 409 African-American males admitted to a predominantly white university through its office of Educational Services and Programs. (SLD)

Data on student retention at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, are analyzed. The retention rate of full-time freshmen for each of the past five years is presented versus the projected effects of achieving the institutional enrollment goal each year until 1986. Retention increased by only .1 of 1 percent in 1980 as compared to just over 2…

In order to gather data on the causes of student attrition, a study was conducted at a Florida community college to identify the relative importance of a set of selected environmental factors and student characteristics. A cohort was developed from the fall 1990 first-time-in-college students and was tracked for 2 years using the college's…

Retention and attrition after the freshman year among disadvantaged students at a senior college of the City University of New York were studied. A conceptual model of Tinto (1975) was applied to a group of students participating in the Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) program, which provided remedial and/or developmental…

This study analyzed student characteristics that impact persistence among first-year students attending a large, metropolitan community college. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshmen Survey was administered to first-time students during orientation. Factor analysis was used to classify students' personality and behavioral…

This study investigated whether the one-year retention rate for the cohort of full-time, baccalaureate-degree-seeking, first-time freshmen could be predicted from institutional and aggregate cohort characteristics, including institutional type and control, institutional size, cohort size, average entrance exam score, percentage of part-time…