Examined extent and pattern of stopping out at one university. Data from the fall 1983 new first-year cohort (n=2,434) revealed that one-fifth of the group had stopped out at some point in their academic careers and that the majority were readmitted. Concludes that stopping out delays but does not greatly change educational outcomes for these…

To determine reasons for leaving college, interviews were conducted with 108 undergraduate students who dropped out of an historically black university. Responses from the retention study were used to develop an action program designed to retain enrolled students and to help nonreturning students adjust to their new status. (Author/NB)

Nonreturning students are comprised of several student subpopulations including drop-outs, stop-outs, opt-outs, and transfer-outs. All too often these student groups are not differentiated in retention studies. The current study profiles these student subpopulations, each with varied reasons for discontinuing their studies, and examines the…

Research on student withdrawals has largely ignored the issue of stop-outs, those students who withdraw from a college or university but subsequently reenroll. As a result, student withdrawals have been seen as an attrition issue. However, this study suggests they should be viewed as a retention possibility rather than an attrition issue. This…