Using data from 11 institutions, the authors investigate enrollments in intermediate microeconomics to determine characteristics of successful and unsuccessful students and follow the retake behavior of unsuccessful students. Successful students are significantly different from unsuccessful ones, and unsuccessful students differ by type…

Because almost one half of students enrolled in American doctoral programs do not complete their degrees, the factors that lead to doctoral student attrition need to be identified. Research suggests that the nature of the advisor-advisee relationship contributes to the persistence levels of doctoral students. In this study, we conducted a content…

With research indicating that upwards of 50 percent of all new entering postsecondary education students are placed into remedial education and that students placed into remedial education are less likely to earn a postsecondary credential, policymakers and postsecondary leaders alike have committed themselves to transforming remedial education in…

American higher education is suffering from a dropout pandemic. About 30% of freshmen at four-year colleges don't return for their sophomore year, according to a 2010 report by the American Institutes for Research. Such a high failure rate threatens to make a mockery of President Obama's goal for the US to have the highest proportion of college…

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,…

This instrumental case study investigates the use of a team mentoring approach in a first-year seminar, which was created in response to concerns about first-year student attrition. The seminar was developed in the department of Organizational Leadership at Purdue University--West Lafayette in 2004. The aims of the course were to familiarize…

This paper examines what public colleges are doing to improve the retention of students, and provides a synopsis of 12 examples of "best practices" in Indiana and 3 from other states. The commission also presents 11 observations, each accompanied by one or more possible strategies that might improve student retention. The observations…

The transition from middle school to high school represents a significant event in the lives of adolescents, one that necessitates support from and collaboration among teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators at both educational levels. Successful transitions place particular emphasis on ninth-grade initiatives and can create one of…

The study reported in this document tracked a cohort of Indiana freshmen (about 47,000) with reported majors and categorized them as associate and baccalaureate, resident and nonresident, and part-time and full-time students. The objective to determine how these students fared in the course of the 4 years examined (fiscal years 1985-88). Included…

A 4-year study was made of attrition and persistence rates of 17,677 freshmen degree-seeking students enrolled in Indiana state vocational education programs in fiscal year 1985. The present report focuses on the experience of the 2,187 black students in that cohort. The study's findings include the following: (1) among full-time students, the…

Beginning in 1985, freshmen enrolled on a part-time basis in associate degree programs in Indiana postsecondary institutions were tracked for eight semesters to determine rates of retention and attrition. In 1985, associate degree-seeking freshmen with a declared major constituted 12% of the total undergraduate population in the state, and 74% of…