The effects of initiatives taken by 43 private liberal arts colleges in order to maintain enrollment were assessed in 1983 as part of a 10-year study. Research objectives were to identify: institutions where officials engaged in early planning (1978 or before) to moderate enrollment decline; key strategies employed; key operating ratios resulting…

Longitudinal data are presented relating to Bakersfield College (BC) students who transferred to public four-year colleges and universities. Highlighted findings include the following: (1) first-time transfers from BC to the California State University and College (CSUC) system increased by 5.7% from fall 1984 to fall 1985, continuing a gradual…

Basic background information on college student attrition research studies is provided. This paper is divided into nine components that were prominent in the existing literature: (1) higher education and the concern for attrition; (2) factors involved in college student attrition; (3) demographic factors involved in college student attrition; (4)…

The need for remedial English education among college freshmen has increased, and there exists no standardized approach to proficiency assessment and placement among institutions of higher education. After completing freshmen English courses, 922 students attending a four-year university were assessed to determine accurate variables for use in…

The "Guided Studies" program at a comprehensive community college was evaluated. The program was designed to restrict student course enrollment until academic deficiencies could be erased through successful completion of courses in developmental education. The persistence rates and academic performance of students placed in the program…

Retention at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, was studied, based on the entire population of 29,372 undergraduate degree-seeking students enrolled in a semester between fall 1981 and 1987. Two measures of the retention rate are used: cohort survival, the percentage of the original cohort of entering students that is enrolled in or has…

An evaluation of the TRIO/Special Services program at the University of Minnesota, General College, is presented. Descriptions are provided of program operations, services offered, the program participants, and student eligibility. Program effectiveness is also assessed in terms of student outcomes, and individual program services are examined as…

The use of a combination of traditional cognitive admissions criteria and noncognitive variables in predicting retention of college students is discussed. The focus is on improving prediction by analyzing various subgroups separately rather than using the entire population as a sample. The subjects were freshmen in the fall semester of 1978 at a…

The relationship of students' certainty about academic and career plans to student retention and persistence to graduation was investigated. The effect of race was also considered. In fall 1979 a survey was administered to 3,277 freshmen entering a major, public, research university. Respondents indicated reasons for choosing a college, their…

Five articles on higher education in Australia and New Zealand are presented, along with two review articles. "Australian Higher Education Research and Society. Part I: Post-War Reconstruction and Expansion, 1940-1965" (D. S. Anderson and E. Eton) is a review of research on higher education in Australia and New Zealand since World War…

Several areas related to minority student college attendance are presented in this research review including the current enrollment situation, financial considerations, prediction of college persistence, college characteristics which affect persistence, and special assistance programs. Current enrollment statistics are cited on the percentage of…

The Asian Commanding English (CE) program at the General College, University of Minnesota, which provides coursework in reading, writing, and oral communication to students from Southeast Asia, is described. The program was selected as a model for the development of a retention package specifically directed to the Southeast Asian student…

An experimental preservice teacher education program was developed to train prospective high school teachers to increase academic learning time through identification and arrangement of instructional tasks of personal and social significance. Participants were 34 junior-level prospective teachers who were subjected to two treatments which…

The focus of this study was the relationship between campus-based child care services at the State University of New York (SUNY) community colleges and the academic success of student-parents. Academic success was defined as completion of a degree or certificate program, transfer, or continued enrollment. Data were collected through surveys mailed…

The document examines the connection of commitment and dedication to excellence in teaching, and the extent to which their intensity can be measured as variables. The study expands the knowledge base of 19th and early 20th century teaching by discovering and documenting examples in the historical literature of dedication and commitment. The…