Relationships between personality variables and entrance into and persistence in engineering and racial differences in personality profiles of engineering students were studied for 129 freshmen in engineering and 85 persisting engineering students. Results suggest that personality differences play a vital role in persistence but that racial…

Discusses the efforts of Malawi to "vocationalize" general academic education to help alleviate the unemployment problems of secondary school leavers. Given the costs of vocational education and the number of unmet basic human needs in the country, concludes that vocational training should be left to specialist institutions outside…

A follow-up study was undertaken at Yavapai College to determine why students stopped attending class and if possible to help them return to class. Instructors identified student "walk-outs" and notified Special Services staff who attempted to contact the students. In spring 1982, 129 walk-outs were contacted to determine why they had stopped…

The Comprehensive Dropout Prevention Plan utilizes the resources of Broward County public schools and the community for dropout prevention. A matrix of dropout prevention options has been assembled from both existing programs and from new program designs. General components of the plan include the following: (1) dropout retrieval activities; (2)…

The New York state educational system must change to reduce the devastatingly high dropout rate among Hispanic, Black and American Indian students. A dropout is defined as a student who has been dropped from a school's enrollment and who has not graduated from 12th grade nor been transferred to another school. Research into the causes of dropping…

A study was conducted at St. Louis (Missouri) Community College (SLCC) to assess the extent to which data on nonreturning students represent retention problems, the achievement of non-degree goals, or the process of temporarily stopping out. Study findings, based on a 27% response to a summer 1986 survey of 1,706 fall 1985 students who did not…

A retention study was conducted at Tallahassee Community College (TCC) to determine reasons student withdrew from TCC prior to meeting their educational objectives. The survey population consisted of all students, apart from graduates and those who had been academically suspended, who were enrolled in winter 1981 but had not returned by winter…

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the drop or withdrawal policies of the 29 tax-supported community colleges in Michigan, and to determine whether Macomb County Community College (MCCC) will have proportionately more hours dropped than most. As MCCC does not require formal withdrawal applications, permits withdrawal at any time,…

Specific factors related to attrition at Spring Arbor College were identified, along with several basic problems with attrition-retention studies found in a review of the literature. Using the "significant other" model, this project differed from the general research by taking a relational perspective to the problem of attrition. The…

This study attempts to deal with the pressing issues now confronting junior colleges through an investigation of the student's perception of his college experience. One hundred forty-one withdrawees who enrolled in fall 1967 as full-time, first-time freshmen in three Florida junior colleges were interviewed. They were found to be pragmatic,…

An analysis of data is provided relating to the withdrawal of secondary school students during the 1969-70 school years. These findings are compared with those of 1961-62. Data concerns age, sex, program enrollment, intelligence quotient, achievement ratings, financial problems, lack of interest, and other lesser reasons for withdrawing. (MS)

Synthesizes the literature on community college student retention programs to develop a definition and typology of dropout prevention programs. Classifies programs and strategies based on whether they attempt to sort, support, connect, or transform students. (61 references.) (MAB)

An analysis of unemployment rates, wages, and policy initiatives for school "early leavers" in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom suggests that early withdrawal from school represents a substantial, transnational problem attributable to basic policy problems. It is noted that no policy initiatives directly address…

Provides a review of conceptual perspectives on the salient issues affecting student retention in higher education generally, and minority student retention in particular, over the past few decades. Also summarizes programmatic strategies implemented at institutions as examples of student retention initiatives that have had significant impacts.…

Nonreturning students are comprised of several student subpopulations including drop-outs, stop-outs, opt-outs, and transfer-outs. All too often these student groups are not differentiated in retention studies. The current study profiles these student subpopulations, each with varied reasons for discontinuing their studies, and examines the…