Traditionally colleges have relied on standalone non-credit-bearing developmental education (DE) to support students academically and ensure readiness for college-level courses. As emerging evidence has raised concerns about the effectiveness of DE courses, colleges and states have been experimenting with approaches that place students into…

Used longitudinal data from the 1990-1994 Beginning Postsecondary Students Survey to evaluate the frequency of part-time enrollment and the persistence of students who ever enroll part time. Between 40% and 50% of students attending part time at least one nonsummer term, and persistence was surprisingly high. (SLD)

Latent trajectories of credit hour accumulation were modeled using three independent samples of community college students. Five qualitatively distinct patterns of persistence emerged from these samples: Full-time, long-term; 2 years and out; long-term decliners; part-time, long-term; and one term and out. Follow-up analyses using measures on the…

We use data from the 1990/1994 Beginning Post-Secondary Survey to determine whether the factors associated with long-term attrition from higher education differ for students who initially enrolled part-time as compared to for students who initially enrolled full-time. Using a two-stage sequential decision model to analyze the initial enrollment…

Existing applications of event history modeling in attrition research typically focused on the first departure. This study extends the scope of existing applications by dividing each student's enrollment history into periods of enrollment and non-enrollment (spells). The findings indicate that departure is strongly associated with poor college…

Over the last decade, policymakers, educators, and researchers have increasingly sought to understand community college policies and practices that promote students' success. This effort has been partly driven by an increased emphasis on outcome accountability, but it has also promoted a productive discussion about improving institutional…

A study investigated the influence on critical-thinking skills of part-time and full-time student status. Subjects were 2,076 first-year students at 2- and 4-year colleges. Full-time students developed a higher level of critical-thinking skills than did part-time students, even controlling for other factors. Full-time two-year college students…

A study drew on data from a major longitudinal study to examine whether graduate business administration students experienced a hiatus in educational careers and whether work/education profiles differed from other graduate students. Results indicate interrupting education between bachelor's and master's degrees correlates with part-time enrollment…

Married mothers and their husbands were interviewed at the beginning and end of the women's first year of enrollment in a university to study changes in marital happiness when women return to school. Marital happiness declined over the year among couples in which wives were enrolled as full-time students. (Author/MLW)

A study of 723 doctoral students investigated the relationship between time taken to complete the degree and economic factors, including employment hours, study hours, household income, indebtedness, amount and type of aid, and part-time student status. Field of study and foreign/domestic student status were also considered. (Author/MSE)

Based on data on 8,203 high school graduates from the national High School and Beyond study, it was found that socioeconomically disadvantaged graduates have pursued nontraditional postsecondary enrollment options (part-time, delayed, and nondegree programs), even when data were controlled for differing academic characteristics. Theoretical,…

Data were gathered from nontraditional (commuter, part-time) freshmen at a midwestern urban university. Dropout was a function of grade point average and credit hours enrolled, as well as the utility of education for future employment, satisfaction with the student role, opportunity to transfer, and age affecting dropout through intent to leave.…

A study investigated pre-enrollment variables as predictors of 1-year retention of 1,140 first-time students at a community college. Risk of dropping out was associated with lower high school grade point average, 20-24 year age range, part-time attendance, and being a member of an ethnic minority other than Asian. (Author/MSE)

A graduation efficiency index for colleges and universities is computed by subtracting transfer credits from minimum degree credit requirements, dividing remainder by the sum of a student's enrollment census day credits. Analysis of results for University of Washington bachelor's degree recipients, show nontransfers graduated with more efficiency…