A study was conducted to assess the impact of a career-planning course in terms of time taken to graduate, graduation rate, credit hours taken, number of course withdrawals, and cumulative GPAs. Student course participants (N = 544) were compared to a matched sample of non-course participants (N = 544) after 5 years. Results showed that the 2…

This article reports the findings of a research project which examines the reasons why minority ethnic trainees withdraw from teacher training courses. It highlights a number of issues, the most significant of which is that withdrawal is a process and not an event. The most common causes of withdrawal were "personal" and…

Prerequisite courses are essential tools in many university curricula, but some educators have suggested that they may be detrimental if applied too stringently to exclude students from courses. A measure of the value of prerequisites is whether or not they promote student success. The strongest way to test the value of prerequisites is to compare…

Significant progress has been made over the past four decades in enrolling more students from historically underrepresented groups in U.S. colleges and universities. While total enrollment increased by about 40% overall, minority student enrollment increased by 146%, with Hispanic undergraduate enrollment greatly outpacing other racial/ethnic…

This paper reports the results of a telephone survey of 151 undergraduates who withdrew in their first year of study at a post-1992 institution. It focuses on the negative experiences which they reported during their time at the university and the ultimate reasons for leaving, exploring in particular issues around choice of course, academic…

Nonreturning students are comprised of several student subpopulations including drop-outs, stop-outs, opt-outs, and transfer-outs. All too often these student groups are not differentiated in retention studies. The current study profiles these student subpopulations, each with varied reasons for discontinuing their studies, and examines the…

Distance education and information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been marketed as cost-effective ways to rescue struggling educational institutions in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study uses classroom video analysis and follow-up interviews with teachers, students, and local tutors to analyse…

Although self-initiative is recognized as instrumental to success in college, some students do not take responsibility for their academic development and fail to make the transition from high school to college. This problem is exacerbated when bright, highly skilled students drop courses or quit college entirely. Research into this paradox of…

The withdrawal policies of many universities are based on the supposition that being able to withdraw without grade point repercussions will encourage students to return to the institution at a later date. This study focused on withdrawing students and examined the differences between those who re-enroll after a withdrawal and those who do not.…

This study was carried out with students and staff from a college of further education in south London. The college has a mix of male and female students from a range of ethnic groups, the largest of which is white British. A study undertaken by the college in 2003 indicated that there may be significant differences in achievement and completion…

This article argues that to understand higher education student retention, equal emphasis needs to be placed on successful integration into the social world of the university as into the academic world. To date, sociological research reflecting first-year students' perceptions of the processes involved in developing social lives at university is…

Drawing on Tinto's (1987, 1993) theory of student integration, this research examines students who withdrew from their original institution prior to graduation. Of this group, some of the students who withdraw do so to transfer to another institution, and it is reasonable to assume that these students are different in many ways from students who…

This article reports research concerned with understanding the factors that influence the decision of young males to withdraw from their studies in certificate courses at a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) College in Western Australia. The research focused on males aged between 17 and 21 years and their reasons for either dropping out of or…

A unilateral decision was made by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Office of Academic Outreach and Support, and the Office of Academic Support and Retention (AS&R) to implement a pilot initiative for reporting, monitoring, and tracking excessive absenteeism during the Spring semester 2003. A…

Nearly one-quarter of students in community colleges leave school during the first year of enrollment for reasons other than transfer or credential completion. Generally, nontraditional community college students drop out within their first year at higher rates than do traditional students. Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges…