Multiple group discriminant analysis was employed to determine the utility of preenrollment traits and academic performance in identifying freshman students who persisted, stopped out, or withdrew early. After first-quarter academic performance, relatively clear distinctions can be made between students who persist and those who do not.…

Describes the programs and activities offered by Tulsa Junior College's Metro Campus to meet the social needs and aspirations of nontraditional, commuting students. Points to the use of community resources, college-sponsored recreational activities, and the encouragement of widespread involvement in student government as ways of meeting the…

Examines the effect of on-campus child-care arrangements on a sample of 75 student mothers at Lehman College in New York City. Findings indicate that on-site child care allowed student mothers to take substantially greater advantage of their educational experience and was a highly satisfactory intervention that recognized their special needs. (JPS)

College and university students who live in campus residence halls are found to have a significant educational advantage over those who commute to campus, either from their parents' homes or from apartments or other off-campus housing. Residence hall dwellers are better off financially, educationally, and in other ways to begin with. Then, largely…

Describes how three faculty members created a learning community at a nonresidential campus by creating and teaching a linked block of three core-curriculum courses (Composition 1, Speech Communication, and Cultural Anthropology) for incoming freshman students. Relates first-day class activities, describes the linking of assignments and communal…

Three alumni officers offer ideas for developing unique and appealing alumni events for colleges and universities with large proportions of nontraditional students. They include family events, networking and mentoring opportunities, brown-bag lunches, evening courses and events, travel programs, and programs geared to those professions in which…

Describes and evaluates eight elements of a comprehensive market-research program for commuter colleges: secondary research with formal environmental scanning, local business community-needs assessment; adult community-member telephone survey, classroom survey, new student survey, focus groups, brainstorming sessions, and survey of college…

A study in one private residential and one public commuter liberal arts college compared these characteristics in students whose parents had not attended college with those whose parents had: social integration, academic integration, external support, institutional context, satisfaction with college, role embracement, academic rewards, and…

Creating a college culture that encourages cultural pluralism requires removal of barriers in the environment. Colleges must (1) not assume that students need to assimilate into their existing culture; (2) extend their geographic and social boundaries; (3) provide support systems; and (4) help faculty understand different culture-based student…

Data were gathered from nontraditional (commuter, part-time) freshmen at a midwestern urban university. Dropout was a function of grade point average and credit hours enrolled, as well as the utility of education for future employment, satisfaction with the student role, opportunity to transfer, and age affecting dropout through intent to leave.…

Tinto's model of college persistence/withdrawal, developed for residential colleges, is tested at a nonresidential institution. Results indicated that the concepts of person-environment fit, social integration, and institutional commitment operated differently in the commuter institution. A reconceptualized model for explaining…

A study of 141 first-year science students at York University (Ontario) shows that integration/involvement variables are important in explaining a number of desired outcomes, including satisfaction with grades and program, social values, educational attitudes, achievement gains, and intent to continue in the program and/or institution. (MSE)

A survey of 17,592 college students on 140 campuses indicates considerable alcohol abuse, which is adversely affecting the social and academic environment for nonabusers. Results also show variation by region, student age, and institution. The study suggested that students' drinking was not affected by differences in school policies. Some schools…