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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)
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