This study analyzes longitudinal data from 17 four-year institutions in the United States to determine how the distinctive instructional and learning environment of American liberal arts colleges accounts for the positive impact of liberal arts college attendance on four-year growth in critical thinking skills and need for cognition. We find that,…

Extends previous research, which investigated relationships between female students' perceptions of a "chilly campus climate" and cognitive outcomes in the first year of college, by examining those relationships through the junior year. Results, implications, and limitations of the study are discussed. (Author/GCP)

A longitudinal, quasi-experimental design was used to investigate the freshman year educational outcomes associated with differences in residence arrangement. Results indicated that the organizational effects of residence arrangement were largely accounted for by the extent and quality of the student/faculty informal relationships fostered in…

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 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,…

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…

Residency in a college dormitory during the freshman year of college positively influences educational and personal growth and academic persistence. The mediating effects of relationships with peers and the ambiance of the intellectual community are noted. (JD)

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)

Investigates the perceptions of first-year, undergraduate women at 23 two- and four-year colleges. Results indicate several negative relationships between perceived chilly climates and women's cognitive growth. Negative relationships were more pronounced for women attending two-year colleges than for their counterparts at four-year institutions.…

The interactive influence of student characteristics and eight measures of student-faculty relationships on the prediction of freshman year voluntary persistence/withdrawal decisions was studied. A questionnaire was sent to the total population of incoming freshmen at a large, independent, residential university in New York State. Usable responses…