Since 1983, Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) has invested resources in a comprehensive matriculation program to help students achieve their educational objectives. In each of the 6 subsequent years, the college has added components to its matriculation program and refined others. An evaluation of the program was conducted in 1989, comparing…

The Student Support Services Program, in the student affairs division, has been a counseling and tutorial program at Chicago State University since 1978. The program's goal is to increase the retention and graduation rates of the university's students. The program's focus is to monitor extensively each participant's first year at the university…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year, federally supported project at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) to improve the retention of African-American students in undergraduate premedical programs by developing an improved personal and social support system for black students interested in the health…

Questionnaires that were developed to measure factors in the academic persistence of minority college students were administered to 454 Mexican American students at two large southwestern universities. Both the Cultural Congruity Scale and the University Environment Scale were significant predictors of academic persistence of Mexican American…

Application of a grounded theory approach in a study of 18 minority students in professional programs at a research university found 3 strong influences in students' choice of professional field and likelihood in achieving educational goals: family support; ideal of service to community; and determination. Implications for minority recruitment and…

A study investigated pre-enrollment variables as predictors of 1-year retention of 1,140 first-time students at a community college. Risk of dropping out was associated with lower high school grade point average, 20-24 year age range, part-time attendance, and being a member of an ethnic minority other than Asian. (Author/MSE)

This volume contains descriptions of programs for student success and retention at 68 state colleges and universities in the United States. Each institution is a participant in the National Retention Project, a research-based project working within broader campus cultures that are committed to providing access and success to students traditionally…

A 1991 study of non-returning students at Del Mar College (DMC), in Corpus Christi, Texas, revealed that only 37.9% of these students were actual dropouts (i.e., had failed to accomplish their educational goals, and had no plans to take up further study). Retention studies conducted in Texas between 1985 and 1989 have shown that DMC has…

Six articles on recruitment and retention of black students are presented that cite dropping out as the factor most responsible for significantly impeding minority access to and successful progress in the collegiate experience. Increasingly, retention is becoming the ultimate yardstick for measuring institutional effectiveness, which translates…

Student recruitment and retention at small colleges are considered, and Brunswick Foundation's Small College Program is described. An overview considers problems of small colleges (those with enrollments of 2,000 and less), and the Foundations's approach to meeting the needs of small colleges. The Foundation's Small College Program, which provides…

The Career Intern Program (CIP), inititated by the Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America (OIC/A) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1972, is an alternative high school for dropouts and potential dropouts and for youth who are otherwise educationally and economically disadvantaged and unemployable. CIP operates with the endoresment of,…

Assesses the applicability of several related models of student retention/attrition to community colleges. Presents the results of a longitudinal study of freshman-year retention and performance, revealing that certain pre-enrollment variables coupled with first-semester academic performance data can help institutions identify potential dropouts.…

In a University of Central Lancashire (England) program, upperclassmen support learning of peers through small-group peer tutoring in study skills, earning academic credits for doing so. The program targets courses with difficult content, predominance of lectures, and low rates of teacher-student interaction. Evaluation indicates reduced course…

Researchers investigated whether enrollment in high school vocational/business courses had more holding power than personal, social factors, using High School and Beyond survey data to examine 12 variables. Peer interest, sense of social belonging, and relationships with school staff differentially related to persistence, but participation in…

The Student as Learner Inventory, which was developed at Alverno College (Wisconsin), is described. Alverno College is a private, 4-year liberal arts college for women with an enrollment of 2,500 students. The inventory, which is completed by entering and second semester students in an undergraduate program, is integral to the curriculum. The…