Results of a study of students enrolling at Germanna Community College (GCC) between fall 1981 and fall 1986 to compare the persistence and graduation rates of transfer and occupational-technical students are presented in this document. The study was limited to full-time, first-time students with a declared major. Major findings of the study are…

A study was conducted to examine the relationship between the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores of freshmen entering Brenau College in Georgia and the likelihood of graduation from the institution. The basic research question was: Do proportionately more students entering Brenau with combined SAT scores at or above 800 persist to graduation at…

To examine local dropout trends the Oklahoma City Public Schools (OCPS) documented the numbers and described the characteristics of those who dropped out in the 1985-86 school year. Local dropout rates were compared to those of other school districts and the nation as a whole. A dropout was defined as any student who is under age 18 and has not…

The New York state educational system must change to reduce the devastatingly high dropout rate among Hispanic, Black and American Indian students. A dropout is defined as a student who has been dropped from a school's enrollment and who has not graduated from 12th grade nor been transferred to another school. Research into the causes of dropping…

This paper provides a synthesis of research and theory directly related to retention of adult students. In the first of five major sections, readers are provided with a brief discussion of the nature and significance of the dropout-retention problem. Section 2 reviews research findings relating to who drops out and why. Sociodemographic,…

Recent data in a longitudinal study are examined for insights into the retention patterns of institutions, characteristics of students who persist or drop out, and student satisfaction with the college experience. (MSE)

This statistical report assembles a series of indicators that examine the extent to which males and females have access to the same educational opportunities, avail themselves equally of these opportunities, perform at similar levels throughout schooling, succeed at similar rates, and reap the same benefits from their educational experiences. This…

Whether the dropout rate is a good measure of a quality education is debatable. One could probably make a case that a high dropout rate is just as credible an indicator of a quality education program as a low dropout rate. As with any high-stakes measure of performance, those being evaluated scramble, sometimes frantically, for strategies that…

Inspired by the 1990 Jomtien World Conference on Education for All and by the experience of non-governmental organisations such as BRAC, Save the Children/USA established a community schools project in southern Mali, working with 777 villages to establish and run their own primary schools between 1992 and 1998. These schools enrolled over 45,000…

Lowering the dropout rate of incoming mathematics and science students, and enhancing the provision of mathematics support for freshmen are two important aims of the University of Amsterdam. The approach recently adopted to support first year students is to set up a diagnostic pretest and posttest and use these tests to identify students being at…

The importance of considering the students's goal for attending community college in examining attrition is addressed. A total of 282 new students (18% of all new students) entering a community college in fall 1990 were tracked. Four items from the Entering Student Information Survey were examined: the degree the student plans to work toward at…

The study provides an overview of what national surveys and the literature say about school dropouts, defined as persons who are neither enrolled in school nor high school graduates. For the last decade, the dropout rate for youth age 16-24 has remained roughly the same, about 13-14 percent. Hispanics, Blacks, and economically and educationally…

A study was conducted at MiraCosta College (MCC), in Del Mar, California, to investigate various aspects of retention and attrition and to make recommendations for possible program enhancements. The study sought to determine when students drop out of classes, which students drop out of school completely, and the drop out rate for various…

The academic progress of veteran students has delighted some and been a source of consternation to others. Three points of view seem most common: veterans do more poorly than other students; veterans do better than other students; and, veterans do not differ from other students. This study investigated the academic achievement of veterans at North…

Examines a sample of 15 courses in relation to four variables of student characteristics: gender, ethnicity, age, and full- or part-time status. Presents findings from the transcript analyses of 6,196 first-semester students from nine urban colleges, which reveal the strongest relations between curriculum and ethnicity. (Contains seven tables and…