This paper presents a model of college choice that suggests that students' choice of college can be related to perceived "capital conversion" benefits. The model was tested on an evenly distributed sample (n=22,109) of students; one group attending elite colleges (with average freshman Scholastic Assessment Test scores of 1200 or higher)…

This working paper reviews World Bank project experience in gender issues within higher education over the last two decades. The study's objectives were to: (1) assess the attention given by the Bank has given to gender issues in postsecondary education; (2) examine policies to increase women's access to postsecondary education; and (3)…

The primary objective of a pilot study was to investigate the educational motivation of rural native Appalachian eighth grade females in terms of educational attitudes, educational decisions, and educational self-concept. Results from the study (sample size: 27) indicate strongly that female Appalachian adolescents, about to enter womanhood, do…

To identify causes for low enrollment in secondary agricultural schools in Yemen, the United States Agency for International Development and the Yemen Ministry of Education surveyed 990 preparatory (junior high) students, examining their educational aspirations, differences between rural and urban youth, major influences on student aspirations,…

A model of student attrition was synthesized from psychological, sociological, and educational sources, and contains six sets of variables: background, organizational, personal, environmental, attitudinal, and intent to leave. The model was tested with 1,909 full-time and unmarried university freshmen at a major midwestern university. The sample…

Student effort, the campus environment, and student age and full- or part-time status have significant effects on outcomes for university students. This study employed the same three sets of independent variables to predict gains in general education and in personal and social development for community college students. The study analyzed data…

In order to examine the relationship between the development of academic self-esteem and a climate of excellence in the classroom this study compared the experiences of a group of high school students in their two inner-city Knoxville (Tennessee) high schools with their corresponding experiences in a University of Tennessee (Knoxville) sponsored…

Teachers should begin to think about how they mete out responsibility for spoken and written discourse in the classroom. Research indicates that most teachers initiate and sustain a question-answer-evaluation pattern. This pattern is doubly enacted in the composition course in writing as well as speaking. Unfortunately, this pattern may also…

College student persistence and overall educational attainment were studied, based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Attention was directed to the influence of student socioeconomic status, academic aptitude and preparation, educational goal commitment, college quality/selectivity, college orientation…

The influence of family background, including parental education, on college student attrition was evaluated with first- and second-generation American students. A total of 701 enrolled students and those who left before graduation were surveyed at a primarily residential private liberal arts college and at a primarily commuter state-supported…

Student attrition at the Distance University in the Federal Republic of Germany was studied. The Distance University, which was founded in December 1974, offers the following departments: mathematics and computer sciences, electrical engineering, economics and law, and education and the social sciences. The university is directed toward people…

The relationships among motivational orientations of entering university freshmen, their involvement in social and academic systems, and persistence/attrition were studied at Arizona State University. Also considered was the applicability of Tinto's theory, which suggests that if background and commitments are equal, the greater the integration of…

This study explored mothers' beliefs about their children's educational and occupational futures, and it examined relationships between mothers' beliefs and children's academic achievement and between mothers' beliefs and maternal perceptions of parental responsibilities. A sample of 141 mothers and their first- or fourth-grade child participated…

This case study of a student retention program for at-risk students at Mount Hood Community College (Oregon) contends that student retention programs are seldom as holistic and comprehensive as intended. The study analyzed three areas: the design and implementation of a comprehensive program to improve student retention; the organizational…

Declines in high school and college attendance and completion for blacks, factors that contribute to this decline, and strategies for improvement are addressed by the Chancellor of the State University of New York. Black youth attend college disproportionate to their representation in the population, in large part because of the high school…