Traditional research on the role of higher education in intergenerational mobility scrapes the surface of how complex institutional environments contribute to improved socioeconomic outcomes for students. Drawing from economics, sociology, and higher education research, this study interrogates the complexities of the relationship between students…

Research often focuses on how students fail to meet college expectations, but it rarely asks how colleges fail to meet students' expectations. This study examines students' expectations of college and their institutional confidence--their level of certainty that college will meet their expectations. Drawing on 65 pilot interviews and a survey of…

The amount of time, effort, and money expended in pursuit of a college degree makes it important that students choose a university that is a good fit for them. Unfortunately students often determine whether a university is a fit for them through trial and error. This research investigated student-university fit and its relationship with…

Analyzed self-reported experiences of undergraduates to identify characteristics associated with student engagement. Parental education and student academic preparation were positively associated with higher levels of engagement. Whites were generally less engaged, and men were more likely to be disengaged or highly engaged. Students at public and…

Analyzed alumni survey data to examine the impact that academic departments have on student satisfaction and development. Controlling for individual characteristics, found that characteristics of departments such as faculty contact with students, research emphasis, and proportion of female undergraduates had a significant impact on satisfaction…

The use of life history or biographical information to predict various college experiences of women was examined in this study of 327 women. The results indicated that life history data could be used to make longitudinal predictions and are discussed in terms of their implications for counseling students in higher education. (Author/LBH)

Personal characteristics distinguish university students who conform to living group norms in complaints of physical symptoms from those who do not. Discriminant function analyses indicate significant differences between these two groups and between males and females. (Author/LBH)

In this study of 460 SIU-C students, five topics related to academic excellence are explored. The results are discussed within a political model of the academic system, treating the university as a political system and students as quasi-citizens who possess a rudimentary academic belief system. (Author/LBH)

A study examined whether students' perceptions of their growth are related to their college experiences (after controlling for their precollege characteristics), whether the amount of development varies over the first three years of college, and whether the influences perceived in personal development vary from one year to another. (Author/MLW)

Questionnaire responses from 782 undergraduates suggest that the perception of educational benefits seemed to be the most critical variable in predicting student satisfaction. Other variables examined were age, student level, grade, and satisfaction with college experience. (Author/LB)

A study (n=408 college students) testing a model for grade appeal procedures found that the perceived favorability of the outcome for the student, presumably associated with the student's perceived self-interest, had direct effects on perceived conformity of the appeal procedure with the justice rules and on general attitudes toward the procedure.…

This study examines the effects of peer groups on community college students' perceptions of general educational gains. Results support the strong relationships between the efforts that students expend in taking advantage of the opportunities provided by their colleges and their perceived gains in learning. (JM)

An investigation of equity theory's power to predict students' commitment to college obtained different results in three desciplines. In political science, the major predictor was the comparison of one's group with another; in economics, the comparison within the membership group; and in physics, the internal standard. (MSE)