Retention of first-year students was a problem at a private 4-year university in the Southeastern United States. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the reasons entering first-year students who were part of the Promise Program withdrew from the university during their first year. Tinto's model of student attrition provided…

Predictive modelling is used to identify students at risk of failing their first-year courses and not returning to university in the second year. Our aim is twofold. Firstly, we want to understand the factors that lead to poor first-year experiences at university. Secondly, we want to develop simple, low-cost tools that would allow universities to…

Increasing numbers of student veterans in the United States are transitioning into a higher education culture that reflects major differences from the military culture. Higher education leaders need to understand what these students require and what will help them transition smoothly into higher education. The purpose of this quantitative case…

Coupled with the most recent national data set, this study investigated the college persistence behavior of first-generation students and found that they were most likely to withdraw from college during their second year. Moreover, this study unpacked the time-varying nature of academic and social integration. The effect of social integration on…

As providers of higher education begin to harness the power of big data analytics, one very fitting application for these new techniques is that of predicting student attrition. The ability to pinpoint students who might soon decide to drop out, or who may be following a suboptimal path to success, allows those in charge not only to understand the…

The relationship between freshmen college persistence and self-report variables and objective academic indices is investigated. Follow-up data on persistence or non-persistence was gathered one and one-half years later, allowing one semester for attrition. Results indicate male non-persisters came from relatively low socioeconomic status families…

A five-scale instrument developed from a theoretical model of college attrition correctly identified the persistence/voluntary withdrawal decisions of 78.5 percent of 773 freshmen in a large, residential university. Findings showed that student relationships with faculty were particularly important. (Author/PHR)

Results are reported from a study that attempted to find the objective effects of a 3-month high school teachers' strike on 134 first year university students. Findings indicate that no important differences existed between strike students and others with regard to grades, failures, or withdrawals. (IAH)

Of the 6,076 students enrolled at Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) in fall 1985, 2,389 (39.3%) were "leavers," i.e., they did not graduate and they did not return in winter 1986. Because new students made up 33.8% of the total fall headcount, but accounted for 41.7% of the leavers, a study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of…

Tinto's conceptual schema of college dropout forms the theoretical framework for the development of a model of university student dropout intention. This study validated Tinto's model in two different departments within a single university. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 684 college freshmen in the Education and Economics Department. A…

Describes a study applying the Tinto Model to predict student persistence/exit in a community college setting. A questionnaire assessing background, environmental, and integration variables was administered to full-time students during their first semester, successfully predicting subsequent persistence/exit behavior and affirming the utility of…

A unilateral decision was made by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Office of Academic Outreach and Support, and the Office of Academic Support and Retention (AS&R) to implement a pilot initiative for reporting, monitoring, and tracking excessive absenteeism during the Spring semester 2003. A…

With the dwindling of the traditional college applicant pool, retention has become one of higher educational institutions' top priorities. This study addresses the effectiveness of Western Psychological Services'"Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire" (SACQ) for providing early evidence of poor adjustment and potential attrition…

Fall-to-spring retention rates were calculated at Prince George's Community College (PGCC) for several demographic groups and for first-time students attending the college in fall 1989. Data from longitudinal studies were included to provide a more complete picture of student persistence at PGCC. Study findings included the following: (1) 60% of…

A study was conducted to investigate the validity of Tinto's model of college withdrawal in a public four-year college and a private two-year institution. The model consists of six sets of variables in a causal sequence; i.e., background characteristics, initial goal and institutional commitment, academic and social integration, subsequent goal…