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…

This article focuses on the response from a specially constructed questionnaire which was completed by 431 education social workers/education welfare officers located throughout England and Wales in 2005. The findings are supported by interview data obtained from fifty-nine education social workers/education welfare officers in selected local…

This study examined the complexities of adjustment to college and its effect on the college student's intent-to-persist in college. The study mailed survey questionnaires (a combination of the "Anticipated Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire" and the "Social Propensity Scale") to a random sample of first-time,…

This study applied newly-developed methods of survival analysis with repeated events to a longitudinal data set in order to illustrate stopout hazards for college students. Survival analysis incorporates cases of students returning to college and not yet returning to college in a single analysis. This study applied a multiple-spell survival…

This study of the persistence behavior of undergraduates at America's 4-year colleges and universities used data from the "High School and Beyond" study, a national survey of 28,000 high-school seniors. "Persistence" is described as the flow of students through college over a 6-year period. Four categories of persistence were…

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)

Almost all studies of retention inappropriately combine stopouts with transfer-outs because of a lack of data. The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) (formerly called the National Student Loan Clearinghouse) created a new database that tracks students across institutions. These data, in combination with institutional databases, now allow…

A study was undertaken at Maryland's Prince George's Community College to determine term-to-term retention rates for the four cohorts of first-time freshmen entering in fall 1990 (n=2,643), fall 1991 (n=2,251), fall 1992 (n=2,563), and fall 1993 (n=2,419). Two measures of retention were determined: the percentage of students who enrolled the…

Almost all studies of college student retention inappropriately combine stopouts with transfer-outs due to a lack of data. The National Student Loan Clearinghouse (NSLC) has created a new database that tracks students across institutions. These data, in combination with institutional databases, now allow researchers to take into account both…

A study investigated the distribution of attrition-related factors of 900 (351 male and 549 female) adult vocational students enrolled in selected postsecondary Louisiana vocational and technical institutions. Comparative, predictive, and ex-post facto designs were used. The outcome measure was students' perceived intentional persistence, which…

Presents findings from Johnson County Community College follow-up surveys of nonreturning students. Indicates that most nonreturning students had achieved their educational goals, had improved various cognitive and noncognitive behaviors because of their college experiences, and planned to reenroll in college eventually. Describes reasons for…

Describes a study conducted at a large urban community college to investigate relationships among stop-out behavior and demographic characteristics, enrollment patterns, and external commitments. Compares college graduates who enrolled continuously with those who stopped out at least once while completing course requirements. (DMM)

Analysis of 258 responses to a survey of undergraduate students in good standing at a college of business administration who did not return for the fall 1996 semester, found no single critical causal factor. It was found that many of these students had previously dropped out, suggesting that they were stopping out rather than dropping out. (DB)

This study examined graduation and attrition patterns of undergraduates who were enrolled in the fall semester but who did not return for the spring semester at a doctoral granting, metropolitan university. A total of 504 of the 1,262 students who enrolled in the fall 1992 semester but who did not return for the spring 1993 semester completed a…

The influence of previous college involvement, organizational characteristics, early career experiences, and current self-concept on the intention of college dropouts to resume their college education is examined. (Author/MLW)