This study analyzed a multi-institutional and longitudinal data set to determine the impact of exposure to effective instruction on first-year persistence--defined as reenrolling for the second year of college at the same institution. Net of important confounding influences, exposure to effective instruction significantly increased the likelihood…

This book presents the results and implications of a major new national study exploring the effects of institutional racial composition on African American students' development and their educational outcomes, taking into account individuals' background characteristics, their perceptions of the institutional environment, and their experiences in…

This study investigated the accuracy with which administrators describe the college environment as it appears to students. Student personnel administrators projected students as viewing the environment significantly higher in terms of "intellectual stimulation" and significantly lower in "bureaucracy" than students actually did. (Author)

Identified the institutional and college experience variables influencing end-of-first-year educational degree plans of community college students. Found that the average precollege degree plans at a community college had a significant effect on students' end-of-first-year degree plans. In the prediction of end-of-first-year degree plans, there…

This study investigated the congruence between students' perceptions of their peers and their perceptions of the institutional environment. Significant differences were found between students' perceptions of their class peers and the environment on four factors. (Author)

This paper presents the results of eight analyses based upon data from the National Study of Student Learning (NSSL), a 3-year longitudinal research project begun in 1992 to examine the influence of academic and nonacademic experiences on student learning, student attitudes about learning, student cognitive development, and student persistence.…

Studies students from 18 four-year institutions to estimate the unique impact of college racial composition on African American students' openness to diversity during college. Evidence suggests that the racially homogeneous environment of historically Black colleges does not inhibit growth in African American students' openness to racial,…

Study estimated the influence of college on students' academic and social self-concepts within the structure of a causal model. Separate estimations of the model were conducted for Black and for White men and for women. (RB)

Humanities majors at one of two institutions studied rated the institutional climate significantly higher on an Aestheticism/Idealism factor than their peers in the social sciences. Social science majors at both universities rated the climate of their institution significantly higher on a Bureaucracy factor than either humanities or natural…

A high level of informal contact with faculty members by college freshmen was associated with positive views of their academic and non-academic lives and persistence at the institution. (MM)

An investigation of the relationship between informal interaction with students and the accuracy with which faculty members project students' perceptions of the institutional climate showed that "high" interactors consistently projected more accurate student ratings of the climate on a bureaucracy factor and less consistently predicted more…

Research on the association between student-faculty informal, nonclass contact and various outcomes of college is reviewed and synthesized. Relevant investigations are summarized, methodological problems are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested. A conceptual model to guide future inquiry is offered and discussed briefly.…

Freshmen at two institutions sampled had significantly higher ratings of the climate on an intellectualism/scholarship factor than seniors. As length of exposure to the institution increased (comparing freshmen with seniors) assessments of the environmental press by male and female students tended to diverge. (Editor/JT)

A nine-year longitudinal study of the relationships of degree attainment, social and academic integration during college years, institutional characteristics, sex, and changes in student self-concept is reported. Implications for enhancing student self-concept are discussed. (MSE)

A sample of 5,162 undergraduates at 74 institutions was surveyed to identify the effect of the college environment on students' educational aspirations. Several environmental factors had modest but significant effects on aspirations; however, the magnitude of the effects differed somewhat by gender and institutional selectivity. (Author/MLW)