Despite increasing recognition that a high school diploma is a minimum requirement for success in the workplace, nearly half of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students fail to graduate, and in some CPS high schools, more students drop out than graduate. Research on dropping out has shown that the decision to persist in or leave school is affected by…

The Biology Intensive Orientation for Students (BIOS) Program was designed to assess the impact of a 5-d intensive prefreshman program on success and retention of biological science majors at Louisiana State University. The 2005 pilot program combined content lectures and examinations for BIOL 1201, Introductory Biology for Science Majors, as well…

Enrollment behavior of university students was studied through a search for regularities in the enrollment data using the automated discovery system Forty-Niner (49er). Information is provided on the 49er system, the meaning of regularity, and equations used in the analysis of enrollment behaviors. Cohorts of first-time, full-time freshmen…

This study used Markov chain matrices to simulate the effect of varying degrees of change in student characteristics on retention and graduation rates. Data were applied to a 1-year enrollment transition matrix that tracks how students of each class level progress into the same or higher class levels, to a completed degree, or to non-returning…

In fall 1981, entering freshmen at Bronx Community College (BCC) were encouraged to attend a 10-week non-credit orientation course (SPD-99), in which counselors used a variety of materials and instructional procedures to assist students with their educational, career, and personal development and to introduce students to various campus resources…

During fall 1983, a study was conducted of the 3,250 first-time freshmen registered at Queensborough Community College (QCC). An academic profile of these students was developed, focusing on demographic background, high school academic profile, results on the QCC placement tests and City University of New York Freshman Skills Assessment Tests,…

The structural relations of the seven non-cognitive dimensions proposed by W. E. Sedlacek and G. C. Brooks (1976) and traditional definitions of academic ability, as indicated by Statistical Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, to first semester grade point average (GPA) and persistence after three and five semesters were examined. Random samples of…

The retention of five cohorts of first-time freshmen and transfer students who reenrolled for 8 years in a nonresidential urban institution was investigated. Attention was directed to the effects of sex, race, and grade point average on retention, differences in retention for first-time freshmen and transfer students, and the extent to which…

The effectiveness of remediation in reducing the risk among skills-deficient college freshmen of different ages was studied. Twenty-five percent of the entering class of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, were identified as skills deficient, based on scores on the Clarke Self Assessment Survey and a written diagnostic test. Of the 258…

Information is provided on the academic performance of Missouri community college students who transferred to the University of Missouri, Columbia (UMC), for the fall 1979 semester. The data are organized according to the college from which students transferred, the UMC department which they entered, student transfer grade point average (GPA) and…

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…

Two studies evaluated outcomes of a University Experience (freshman seminar) course to ease the transition to college and enhance student retention at the University of South Florida. In the first study, course evaluations of "typical" USF students (N=540) who completed the course in fall 1998 were overwhelmingly positive in support of…

Describes a study of students at Northern Illinois University (NIU) conducted to determine the characteristics, attendance patterns, grade point averages, and degree attainment of students who initiated their postsecondary education at a four-year college, transferred to a community college, and then transferred to NIU. (AYC)

The 1963 freshman class accumulated a graduation rate of 15 percent over four years, 31 percent over five years, and 42 percent over 11 years. First semester grade point average is a useful predictor of academic success. It separates graduates from nongraduates, and roughly predicts time to graduate and semesters attended for nongraduates. (MSE)

In a study of the effectiveness of a faculty/student mentoring program at a large urban university, 339 undergraduate students assigned to mentors were matched with nonmentored students based on gender, ethnicity, grade point average (GPA), and entering enrollment status. Results showed a higher GPA, more units completed per semester, and lower…