The Early Entry Institute, an especially individualized and supportive 8-week summer program, was established in 1966 at Northern Michigan University to raise the academic level of students who graduate in the lower third of their high school class and may be poor college risks. This study compared the persistence and academic performance of 91…

This meta-analytic synthesis of findings from 60 evaluation studies schowed that special college programs for high-risk students have had basically positive effects on students. High-risk students who enrolled in such programs stayed in college somewhat longer than control students did, and they received somewhat better grades in regular college…

In this study 445 incoming freshman completed a questionnaire prior to arrival on campus about their outcome expectations with respect to successful college achievement and academic performance goals. During their second semester, 274 of these students responded to a questionnaire where Social-Cognitive Career Theory Constructs were again tested.…

A study of the persistence behavior of students who drop college courses included predictions concerning which students were most likely to drop courses, which courses were most likely to be dropped, and at what point in the semester students were most likely to drop courses. (Author/MLW)

Studies social personality types and assesses the relationship of Holland's secondary construct of consistency to persistence in college and academic achievement. Results indicated that, for both persisters and nonpersisters in college, subjects with higher levels of consistency achieve higher college grade point averages than subjects with lower…

Studied prediction of college freshman performance and graduation in U.S. colleges by examining aggregated data at the institutional level for 1,429 4-year institutions. Results suggest that persistence to graduation as a characteristic of student populations at a college can be predicted better than persistence at the individual level at a given…

This study compared college women with a history of childhood sexual abuse to nonabused college women on three measures of academic performance. No evidence was found that sexually abused college women differ from nonabused women in terms of their likelihood of staying in college, overall grade point average, or progress toward degrees. (DB)

A longitudinal study of the retention and academic performance of college freshmen taking freshman seminars found that participating students with higher Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores were significantly less likely to leave college than nonparticipating controls, and participating students with lower SAT scores showed slightly better…

Voluntary use of counseling increased, and, in turn, academic performance improved, after participation in brief required counseling intervention for at-risk second-year college students (n=131). Although persistence through graduation was related positively to voluntary help-seeking after the intervention, increment of improvement in grade point…

A study explored 97 college freshmen's perceived stress and persistence as a function of attachment style. Students with secure attachment reported significantly less perceived stress than those with insecure attachment. Fewer students with secure attachment quit college than did students with insecure attachment. Stress scores and grade point…

The freshman year represents a stressful transition for college students. Despite a multitude of social, academic, and emotional stressors, most college students successfully cope with a complex new life role and achieve academic success. Other students are less able to successfully manage this transition and decide to leave higher education…

The two-year college often represents Black men's first experience with postsecondary education, and for many, their last opportunity for obtaining a degree beyond a high-school diploma. Yet a review of student performance data provided by the California chancellor's office for community colleges indicates that African-American men are the…

A study was conducted at Phillips County Community College (PCCC) to analyze the impact of freshman orientation classes on students' persistence and academic performance. The participants in the study were all first-time, full-time freshmen who entered PCCC during the fall 1982, spring 1983, or fall 1983 semesters. During the registration process,…

The influence of financial aid on college student persistence was studied using causal modeling. The study population was 227 full-time freshmen, who enrolled in fall 1982 at a liberal arts college at a large commuter institution. All the students received financial aid. The model, which included background and academic variables, accounted for…

It is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from existing studies of the academic performance of college transfer students because of the fact that the findings of one college are generally not applicable to another institution. However, the university concerned with the retention and achievement of its transfer students can use these studies…