Measures of academic job involvement, verbal ability, academic performance, and satisfaction with courses and with college in general, obtained for 155 students during the freshman year, were correlated with attrition on a two-year followup. Freshman grade point average and satisfaction with college in general were two significant predictors of…

A portion of a brief filed in the United States Court of Appeals to appeal a judgment in Handsome v Rutgers University is provided. The case involved a student's prohibition from reregistering and obtaining transcripts due to unpaid loans. The argument and statement of the standard or scope of review are included. (MLW)

Studies higher education practices to recruit and retain Hispanic women. Examines college experiences of two classifications of Hispanic women at University of California: those who had attended private or specialized public schools and those who attended general private or public schools. Suggests Hispanics not readily accepted, causing low…

College personnel professionals use a variety of strategies to recruit and retain minority group students. The following programs and approaches are described: (1) student monitoring; (2) faculty mentoring; (3) referral for tutoring and remediation; (4) encouragement of participation in minority student activities; (5) peer mentoring; (6) early…

A survey of 95 students withdrawing from dental school investigated the reasons for dropping out. Predental school academic achievement was not found to be a significant predictor of withdrawal, but curricular and professional concerns were most commonly cited, followed by economic issues. (MSE)

A study of 233 nontraditional-age and 92 traditional-age university students investigated the utility of Vincent Tinto's model of student attrition for age-related sensitivity. Student variables considered include demographic, individual, educational, academic integration, social integration, and commitment factors. Results suggest the model fits…

The conceptual and technical problems that need to be considered when studying graduate student retention and degree progress are examined, and practical suggestions for the institutional researcher are offered. Terms are defined, retention measures are explained, and different types of analysis are outlined. Ideas are given for database…

Michael Hovland, the senior consultant at Noel-Levitz Centers, responds to questions about summer bridge programs, first-year seminar programs, Rutgers' retention model, faculty reactions to retention programs, the impact of retention programs on institutional mission, administrative involvement in retention, student assessment, retention efforts…

A study examined the extent to which social and academic integration and student educational objectives were predictive of persistence for 1,142 community college students. Student educational objectives discriminated most powerfully between persisters and nonpersisters. Academic and social integration and employment status were also significant…

An analysis used 1987 national student aid data to examine the influence of prices on within-year persistence by graduate students. Results indicated that graduate students, especially in public institutions, are responsive to tuition charges in their persistence decisions. It is suggested that institutions carefully examine the potential impact…

Reports on a four-year longitudinal study of 2,544 college students to determine the relationship between academic self-concept and withdrawal from school. Finds that the most significant predictor of school withdrawal was the students' self-concept of their overall academic ability. (CFR)

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…

Distance education and information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been marketed as cost-effective ways to rescue struggling educational institutions in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study uses classroom video analysis and follow-up interviews with teachers, students, and local tutors to analyse…

This paper discusses the role of institutional researchers in changing attitudes within institutions of higher education on the importance of efforts to improve student retention. It describes activities undertaken at Virginia Tech to determine why students voluntarily withdraw from the university in the context of changing attitudes within the…