ERIC Number: ED328309
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1991-Jan-15
Pages: 36
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Study of Students Who Withdrew from Courses, Summer 1988-Spring 1990. Volume XIX, No. 5.
Lucas, John A.; Meltesen, Cal
A study was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) to develop a profile of students who withdrew from courses between 1988 and 1990 and to compare this profile with the results of a 1986-88 withdrawal study. For the 2-year period studied, each degree credit student who officially withdrew from a course was asked to complete a survey form, indicating withdrawal status, whether a counselor had been consulted, principal reason for withdrawal, method of registration, and general comments. Between 1988 and 1990, 13.8% of the 162,000 course enrollments resulted in official withdrawals, representing a 0.3% increase in withdrawals over the 1988 cohort. An analysis of these withdrawals indicated the following: (1) one out of every five course withdrawals resulted in complete withdrawal from WRHC, although nearly 75% of the students who withdrew planned to return to WRHC one day; (2) nearly 30% of those withdrawing gave reasons completely beyond WRHC's control, and only 8% indicated WRHC as the primary cause for withdrawal; (3) the major reasons cited for withdrawals included personal, family, or health problems, too far behind/poor grades, inconvenient meeting times, or job pressures; (4) there continued to be a lower percentage of withdrawals during the summer semester than during the spring and fall semesters (10% versus 14%); (5) during the previous 2 years, 44% of the students withdrawing had never consulted a counselor; and (6) overall, younger students continued to have a higher withdrawal rate (17.9%) than students over the age of 25 (8.9%). Sample narrative responses and the survey instrument are included. (JMC)
Descriptors: Academic Persistence, Community Colleges, Comparative Analysis, Courses, Dropout Research, Dropouts, Enrollment Influences, Participant Satisfaction, Questionnaires, Student Attitudes, Student Characteristics, Trend Analysis, Two Year College Students, Two Year Colleges, Withdrawal (Education)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires; Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: William Rainey Harper Coll., Palatine, IL. Office of Planning and Research.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A