A telephone survey was conducted at John Tyler Community College (JTCC) to determine the initial goals, reasons for leaving, current activities, plans, and characteristics of students who left the college after one or more quarters of attendance. Telephone calls were made to all 103 full-time students and a 17% sample of the part-time students…

Introduces a method of examining college enrollment patterns that is unlike the traditional cohort models currently used. The student flow matrix model can track student retention and attrition within the institution, and can also help the administrator identify key relationships between and among specific student-flow characteristics. (MSE)

Because of the unique nature of community colleges, no single model or calculation of attrition can fit all institutions. Each college falls somewhere on the continuum between the degree-oriented junior college, in which students pursue a linear pattern of enrollment from entry to graduation, to the consumer-oriented community college, in which…

John Tyler Community College (JTCC) conducts a regular investigation of students who leave the institution after one or more quarters of study in an effort to determine reasons for their withdrawal, objective for enrolling, goal achievement, and current occupational status and future educational goals. A systematic random sample of all…

Intended as a resource to help decrease student withdrawal and increase student success at California's Santa Monica College, this report presents results from a study of student withdrawal and success rates for 8 sessions, from winter 1994 through fall 1994. Following an overview of the project and general observations based on findings, tables…

One of the themes frequently appearing in the literature on student retention is that a primary determinant of student persistence is the interaction between students and faculty. Research reveals that students' educational intentions, goal commitment, and integration into the social and academic environment of the college are also influential.…

In the Maryland community colleges, a Success Rate Indicator is used to measure student success and is determined from the graduation, transfer, and still-enrolled status of a cohort of first-time full-time students after 4 years. The information is obtained by matching enrollment and graduation files from all public colleges in Maryland. Students…

A study was conducted to document the progress of students who entered Napa Valley College (NVC) in fall 1984 with the educational objective of earning a degree or certificate. Persistence rates, changes in enrollment status, grades, and withdrawal patterns of 2,319 first-time college students were monitored from fall 1984 to spring 1986. Study…

In 1988, a telephone survey was conducted of students at Prince George's Community College (PGCC) who were enrolled in fall 1987, but who were not registered for spring 1988. The purposes of the study were to ascertain students' reasons for not returning to PGCC and to determine what the college could have done to influence the non-returning…

A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of community colleges in aiding those students who transfer to a senior institution, fail academically, return to the community college, and then re-enter the senior institution. The study, involving an examination of student records and a survey, centered on three groups: (1) 137 community…

This study focuses on school system characteristics that affect the dropout rate in the Chicago public high schools. Although the primary variable for investigation is attendance rate, other school system variables examined include type of school, percentage of low-income students in a school, and the overall level of student ability for a school…