A conceptual model of the factors affecting dropout syndrome was develop emphasizing academic, social, and personal outcomes of the selection or socialization of students at a university. The model was estimated using path analysis, and the intervening variables were found to be important predictors of dropout syndrome. (Author/DWH)

A profile of exit prone students evolved from the application of a model of dropout among liberal arts college women. Findings indicate family responsibilities make women more likely to leave; college's perceived practical value makes women less likely to leave. (Author)

The determinants of student attrition in higher education institutions are investigated using a causal model which synthesized research findings on job turnover and on student attrition. Many male/female differences were found but three surrogate measures for pay were found for both sexes to be related to intent to leave. (Author/LC)

The purpose of this paper is to describe the rise in nontraditional enrollments, define the nontraditional undergraduate student, and develop a conceptual model of the attrition process for these students. Nontraditional students are more affected by the external environment than by the social integration variables affecting traditional student…

A non-recursive model was developed to assess the degree of reciprocity between satisfaction and performance as indicated by grade point average. Data from students at a single research university were used. The causes of satisfaction differ for men and women. (Author/MLW)

Institutional variables are examined in an effort to account for the differences in retention rates at institutions classified as Liberal Arts Colleges II. The four study objectives were to: (1) develop a theoretical model to explain retention rates at different Liberal Arts Colleges II in which the institution is the unit of the analysis, (2)…

Analysis of a survey of freshman women at a land-grant university included 12 possible determinants of student satisfaction, intent to leave the college, and dropout. The labor model seems applicable to colleges and universities, but is not sufficient to explain the dropout process. (MSE)

A theoretical model of turnover in work organizations was applied to the college student dropout process at a major midwestern land grant university. The 854 freshmen women subjects completed a questionnaire that included measures for 14 independent variables: grades, practical value, development, routinization, instrumental communication,…

The shortcomings of current research on student attrition are reviewed, and ways are described in which multiple regression, path analysis, and a recursive causal model can be used to better understand attrition. A review of the research shows that past theoretical models lack an adequate definition of variables which have resulted in their being…

This study developed and estimated a conceptual model of student retention incorporating approach/avoidance behavioral theory with 262 first and second year students at a major midwestern research university. The study applied a theoretical model focusing on the influence of coping behavior on academic and social integration, student intentions,…

Variables that best explain variance in student attrition for 168 freshmen students from a college of agriculture within a major midwestern university were studied in 1979. Variables were selected from a theoretical causal model of student attrition (Bean, 1981), a review of the literature (Bean, 1978), and five empirical investigations conducted…

The determinants of student attrition in institutions of higher education were investigated. A causal model was developed which synthesized research findings on turnover in work organizations and on student attrition. Questionnaires were distributed to university freshmen (N=1171). The data was analyzed using multiple regression and path analysis.…

A causal model to explain student attrition was tested at a major midwestern land-grant university with a sample of 1,513 full-time, unmarried freshmen who were 21 years old or younger. The causal model was reduced from 23 to 10 variables: an intent variable, three attitudinal variables, and two each of organizational, personal, and environmental…

Attrition is defined and the importance of understanding factors affecting it at a particular institution are discussed. A retention model is presented, ways that each of the sets of variables affect attrition and methods to reduce attrition are discussed. (MLW)

Models that have appeared in the student attrition literature in the past decade and behavioral models from the social sciences that may help explain the dropout process are examined, and an attempt is made to synthesize a causal model of student attrition. The models of Tinto, Spady, and Rootman in the area of student attrition, and models of…