Challenges confronting higher education have led to outcomes-driven approaches such as performance-based funding, forced greater emphasis on student persistence and completion, and spurred campus-wide student success efforts. In examining ways to achieve integrated student success efforts across campus, this article explores issues related to…

This literature review examines student retention in higher education institutions. Specifically, it looks at the background and history of student retention, three student retention theories, and current literature on student retention within the social system. The three theories are Spady's (1970, 1971) Undergraduate Dropout Process Model,…

This article describes a continuing project at the University of South Florida that was first presented in the 83(2) issue of "College and University" (Miller 2007) and further detailed in the 83(3) (Miller and Herreid 2008). Through that point the project had established a predictive formula for determining the risk of attrition of…

This article describes the early outcomes of an ongoing project at the University of South Florida in Tampa that involves using a logistics regression formula derived from pre-matriculation characteristics to predict the risk of individual student attrition. In this piece, the authors will describe the results of the prediction formula and the…

In Canada, changing demographics and increased competition--as well as social values based on equity--have inspired efforts to increase the postsecondary education (PSE) participation rates of youths from under-represented/under-served groups. Despite its population having the highest level of educational attainment among those of OECD countries,…

This is the fifth in a series of articles describing an attrition prediction and intervention project at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa. The project was originally presented in the 83(2) issue (Miller 2007). The statistical model for predicting attrition was described in the 83(3) issue (Miller and Herreid 2008). The methods and…

This article presents a project intended to produce a model for predicting the risk of attrition of individual students enrolled at the University of South Florida. The project is premised upon the principle that college student attrition is as highly individual and personal as any other aspect of the college-going experience. Students make…

Results of a study of the relationship of class meeting day and some other variables to student retention in a management science statistics course suggest the need to consider the potential for attrition in scheduling, to compare results in other settings, and to determine the underlying causes of retention problems. (MSE)

The history and status of research on college student attrition are reviewed, and research design and measurement deficiencies that have reduced the accuracy or usefulness of results or hindered appropriate policy formation are discussed. (MSE)

Presents a tracking model for monitoring and reporting student transitions through the college years. Develops and illustrates the model by following a mythical class of 500 freshmen and 380 transfer students from matriculation to attrition or graduation. The model focuses on sequences of semesters rather than on freshman, sophomore, junior, and…

A study that focused on the relationship between affiliation and retention is discussed. Affiliation was defined as the act of associating oneself with the university; a feeling of comfort with and belonging at the institution. (MLW)

The relationship among financial aid, academic attrition, and student ability is discussed. With the assurance that no one was more equal than another, quantitative access resulted in a leveling process--the new game became mediocrity, not meritocracy. (MLW)

Issues and considerations likely to be confronted in designing and constructing longitudinal institutional databases or studies are examined, including operational definitions of retention and attrition. The intent is to reduce current limitations in dropout research. (MSE)

The use of computer graphics techniques in a study of attrition at the University of Akron is outlined to illustrate potential applications. The techniques produce information that is more readily interpreted than the usual data tables. Specific software information and illustrations are included. (MSE)

Tinto developed a model to predict the attrition process. The model respects a longitudinal perspective and regards persistence as a function of the quality of a student's interactions with the academic and social systems of the college. Tinto asserts that the two primary factors related to student withdrawal are the personal characteristics of…