This study investigated the relationships among several different indicators of high school performance: test scores, dropout rates, transfer rates, and attrition rates. Hierarchical linear models were used to analyze panel data from a sample of 14,199 students who took part in the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988. The results…

Family socioeconomic status, ability, high school curriculum, scholarship receipt, age, race, marital status, enrollment status, employment status, and type of college attended were examined. The importance of these factors varied widely with year of college completed. Results demonstrated that these factors cannot be molded into a single equation…

The high school dropout problem in 1979 and the reasons students leave school were examined. Results indicated that women were more likely to leave because of pregnancy or marriage and men because of work. Family background strongly influenced dropout behavior and accounted for almost all racial differences in dropout rates. (Author/LC)

The effect of the perceived quality of academic advising on student attrition was studied for 1,033 first-time freshmen at a public urban university. High quality advising reduced attrition. Low-quality advising was less successful in reducing attrition, but was associated with less attrition than was no advising at all. (SLD)

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 indicate that women are more likely to withdraw only in two year colleges and that whites are more likely to withdraw than blacks. High school program, college grades, and educational aspiration are significantly related to withdrawal, but receipt of financial aid is not.…

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)

This study extended the knowledge of the explanatory power of Tinto's theoretical model of college persistence/withdrawal through a multi-institutional validation. Path analysis was used to test the model overall and at three different groupings of postsecondary institutions: four-year, predominantly residential; and four-year, and two-year,…

Associations among background, commitment levels, institutional involvement, and student persistence were studied for 260 out of 323 early college dropouts. The model of attrition developed by V. Tinto (1975) was applied. Student persistence was found to vary by motivational type and student's psychosocial orientation to college. (SLD)

The retention and attrition after the freshman year among economically and academically disadvantaged students admitted through a special program to an urban, primarily non-residential university is investigated. This paper tests the predictive validity of major constructs in Tinto's explanatory model of college student withdrawal. (Author/BS)