A national sample of college students who initially aspired to be, or later became, physicians was used to determine the influence of precollege characteristics, college origins, and the academic and social experience of college. Major effects on attainment were college characteristics and academic experience. (Author/MLW)

The following five common myths about college education are examined: (1) that institutional reputation reflects educational quality; (2) that traditional teaching methods are proven effective; (3) that good teachers are good researchers; (4) that faculty influence students only in class; and (5) that student academic and nonacademic experiences…

A causal model based on Tinto's work was employed to explain the long-term persistence/withdrawal of students who began their postsecondary education in two-year institutions. Persistence was defined as completing the bachelor's degree within a 9-year period, or actively working toward the degree as of 1980. The model was estimated on a national…

Investigated are the multidimensional differences in freshman perceptions and experience of the academic and nonacademic aspects of college associated with varying amounts of informal contact with faculty. Discriminant analysis indicated that factor dimensions, termed Interest Value and Practical Appeal, best distinguished between groups of…

Substantive and methodological problems encountered in a five-year synthesis of research on college impact are discussed, including general issues in higher education research and scholarship, relevance of assessments of student change, unnoticed indirect effects of college experience, inattention to individual differences, validity of common…

The influence on freshman student attrition of the group with whom a student lives (i.e., the composition or contextual character of the collegiate residence unit) was investigated. Based on Tinto's (1975) model of college student attrition, a longitudinal study was conducted at a large, independent, residential university in New York State having…

Ten popular myths about higher education's effect on students are questioned. Issues include: test scores in assessment of college impact; college effect on student development; institutional resources/prestige and quality; two-year college attendance; educational quality at historically black colleges; teaching methods; faculty research; teaching…

A study of 2,392 freshman in 23 diverse two- and four-year colleges in 16 states found a number of variables associated with students' internal attribution at the end of the first college year. Variables included college type (two- vs. four-year), exposure to postsecondary education, work responsibilities, course organization, instructional…

This study, done at Syracuse University in 1975, investigated the multidimensional differences in freshman perceptions and experience of the academic and non-academic aspects of college associated with varying amounts of informal contact with faculty. Discriminant analysis indicated that factor dimensions, termed Interest Value, Practical Appeal…