The retention and attrition after the freshman year among economically and academically disadvantaged students admitted through a special program to an urban, primarily non-residential university is investigated. This paper tests the predictive validity of major constructs in Tinto's explanatory model of college student withdrawal. (Author/BS)

Stepwise discriminant analysis coupled with logit regression analysis of freshmen data from Brandon University (Manitoba) indicated that six tested variables drawn from research on university dropouts were useful in predicting attrition: student status, residence, financial sources, distance from home town, goal fulfillment, and satisfaction with…

Discusses the focus of this special issue on college student retention and describes the issue's articles, which advance recommendations for institutional action that emanate from theory and research rooted in several different theoretical orientations: organizational, sociological, and psychological. (EV)

The withdrawal policies of many universities are based on the supposition that being able to withdraw without grade point repercussions will encourage students to return to the institution at a later date. This study focused on withdrawing students and examined the differences between those who re-enroll after a withdrawal and those who do not.…

A study was undertaken at College of the Canyons, in California, to determine the underlying reasons for student attrition. Questionnaires were mailed to all 2,511 students who had officially withdrawn from the college between fall 1992 and spring 1994. A total of 391 completed questionnaires were returned for a response rate of 16%. Results…

One hundred individuals who dropped out of high school in Lawrence County, Alabama, during the 1986-87 school year were studied in order to help formulate ways schools could prevent students from dropping out and ideas on how to create advertising about available adult education to which such dropouts would be receptive. A former in-home adult…

A follow-up study was conducted at Sierra College (California) to determine why students who dropped out of all of their classes during fall 1984 left the college. The dropout population included 1,549 students, of whom only 374 (27%) returned to college in spring 1985. A survey instrument was sent to all withdrawing students, requesting…

The San Diego City Schools collected statistics about grades 9-12 students who withdrew from school during the 1979-80 school year. The study's purpose was to determine how many of these former students did not enroll in schools elsewhere and, therefore, should be considered school leavers. The following generalizations may be made from the…

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…

A study examined the attrition problem as it affected a typical institution of higher learning supporting the education program at an Air Force base. The institution involved was Butler County Community College (BCCC), which offered classes at McConnell Air Force Base (AFB). In order to determine if the high attrition rate at McConnell was unique,…

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the disproportionate number of poor, minority, and working class students represented among the population of "school dropouts" are, objectively, the victims of an institutional syndrome of systematic exclusion referred to as "the student pushout" phenomenon. Cincinnati's junior…

The survey instruments that are a part of an ongoing systematic process of information gathering at Delaware County Community College (DCCC) form the bulk of this manual. Designed to familiarize the faculty and staff with the process of survey use for decision-making, the intended populations and the possible applications of data are described.…

Investigates changes of the student population with academic difficulty at the College of the Canyons. More specifically, this fall 2002 study investigates trends of the student population with academic difficulty over time, demographic changes of the population over time, and the impacts of an academic intervention workshop. Outlines the…

This study examined first-year attrition at a large, urban university in the United Kingdom, demonstrating the application of multilevel modeling to the issue of student attrition. A sample of 2,679 full-time, first-year students studying the 20 most common subject areas was identified. Students were divided into four groups depending on their…

Concern about retention and attrition rates in higher education have increased over the years and efforts to identify and treat potential dropouts have grown considerably. Studies investigating the retention and attrition of community college students have found specific characteristics related to outcomes, including full- or part-time attendance,…