This article deals with the problem of student dropout during the first year in a higher education institution. To date, no model on a budget has been developed and tested to prevent dropout among Engineering Students. This case study was conducted among first-year students taking evening classes in two practical engineering colleges in Israel.…

Institutional withdrawal policies allow students with academic and personal difficulties to avert or minimize damage to the GPA by dropping a course in which they may risk a grade of "D" or "F," or to reduce credit hours to better manage those that remain. Offsetting costs involve lost tuition, delay of progress, and perhaps…

This article reports on the integration of psychotherapy in a comprehensive dropout prevention program developed at the Dean of Students' office of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. The program's psychologists conducted psychotherapy with a subset of dropout prevention program participants who had reacted with emotional turmoil to the…

For many decades, the social imbalances had a significant impact on the academic success of African Americans. High school completion rates for African American students were disproportionately lower when compared to their Caucasian counterparts. This purpose of this qualitative study was to display factors that contributed to African American…

Purpose: This exploratory case study examines how school systems and other local organizations have been working within two major U.S. cities to improve high school graduation rates. Systematically assessing active interorganizational dropout prevention networks may reveal characteristics affecting communities' capacity to support school…

The number of online programs in the higher education sector has increased dramatically in the last decade, and with it, an increase in attrition has become a recurring problem worldwide. Literature suggests that elements of culture, motivation, learning management systems and online pedagogy play a major role in attrition rates in the higher…

Hispanic high school students have a dropout rate that ranges from 35 percent to 55 percent depending on what type of report you may be referencing. Add rates for all high school students. Hispanic youth endure the challenges of language barriers, single parent households, working to help their family, or fighting off gang involvement in their…

The acquisition of programming skills specially in introductory programming courses poses an important challenge for freshmen students of engineering programs. These courses require students to devote a sustained effort during the whole course and a failure to do so may contribute to not passing the course. However, it is difficult for the…

Changing demographics, low Latino graduation rates, and changes to education funding--nationally and locally--challenge society to develop innovative strategies to navigate transformations affecting public education. This article presents findings from a collaborative community-engaged evaluation of a dropout prevention program for at-risk male…

A critical need exists for research on high school dropout that goes beyond individual student characteristics to include the influence of school factors on students' educational decisions. In this article, the author summarizes the findings of a qualitative case study of a group of high school students at risk for dropping out but still attending…

This article describes an action research at an alternative high school which explores drop-out prevention strategies with first-year students. Student retention is extremely challenging for alternative schools. Because their mission is to provide a second chance to students who could not succeed in a regular setting, those schools regularly must…

The Goodwill Literacy Initiative evaluated its services during the 1994-95 program year. This time frame was chosen because several program enhancements were implemented that reflect the literacy initiative's mission to combine adult basic education with work force development. Three developments were aimed at student retention: a formal…

A study at Barry University (Florida), a private, urban comprehensive university investigated factors in student retention. Demographic data, standardized test scores, and academic performance data were gathered for almost 3,000 students entering the university between fall 1991 and spring 1995. In addition, the students were surveyed on…

A study explored the policy process that led to the development and implementation of the Virginia Student Retention Program (VSRP--a program to facilite minority student recruitment and retention projects at Virginia colleges and universities), and examined perceived institutional impacts. The study attempted to determine whether the VSRP and the…

Youngstown State University (Ohio) established a full-cost renewable scholarship for 40 students annually who maintain a 3.5 or higher grade point average. The program is described, including results of the first three years' recruitment, first-year academic requirements, cocurricular activities, community service component, scholarship renewal,…