A study sought to determine the rate of retention of adult students in the University of Minnesota College Program for Individualized Learning (PIL) for the 1983-84 academic year, as well as factors that might relate to this retention rate. A review was made of the 67 applications submitted by students admitted to PIL during that year to determine…

Ferris State University's (FSU's) Collegiate Skills Program assists academically underprepared students in their transition to college. The program was initiatied in fall 1985 in response to increasing numbers of entering freshmen with inadequate reading and writing skills and subsequent high rates of attrition. Focusing initially on students with…

The Regional Tutorial Services Unit of Great Britain's Open University links the school's regional educational programs with the central office, provides for student counseling, and maintains enrollment. This article reviews the unit's first 10 years, its present structure and operations, and the factors underlying or inhibiting its notable…

A survey of a sample of aid recipients at the University of Nebraska at Omaha showed that over 50 percent of those receiving only loans do not finish the semester. Grants in combination with loans had a slightly positive effect on persistence. (MSE)

This study examined the persistence of and financial aid to needy students, underrepresented minority students, and women students, especially those majoring in science, engineering, and mathematics at a large public research university. An institutional student tracking and student financial aid database was used to follow four freshmen cohorts…

The 1996 RETAIN (Retention in Education for Today's American Indian Nations) Conference addressed the low number of Native Americans enrolled in higher education and highlighted successful Native American retention and academic support models. Lists important features in a college program and questions that students should ask about college…

Holistic approaches can help counter the declining college enrollment and graduation of Hispanics. Two retention programs are described: Valued Youth Partnership, a remediation and dropout prevention program; and Step-to-College, which helps Hispanic students make the transition from high school to college. (IAH)

Although college student retention rates vary widely by institution, educators feel dropout prevention is improving and results from a variety of strategies. Teacher awareness training, better student monitoring, and enhanced support networks and services are credited for the improvement. Some policies concerning academic probation, suspension,…

Every young person should be obliged to engage in some program of systematic study until he/she can meet core learning standard for entry into adult society realizing that this will take different amounts of time for different individuals. Learning can take place in wide variety of settings and by many methods. Age-grade link also needs to be…

A study tracked 3,192 University of Iowa freshmen through their first year and into their second year on campus. Logistic regression analyses using multiple data sources (admissions and registrar files, a standardized entrance test (the American College Testing Program Assessment) student profile section, an entering freshman survey) were…

An annotated bibliography of 105 publications (1961-1982) on the retention of black college students is presented. Topics include: retention programs for low income and minority undergraduates; the interrelatedness of curriculum and cultural/economic reproduction; predicting academic performance in college; dropout prevention and reasons…

Issues pertaining to the retention of black students, particularly those attending predominantly white colleges and universities, are reviewed, based on a survey of the literature. Three categories of concerns were found in the literature: ways of conceiving black student retention; factors affecting retention; and strategies and remedies to…

The Supplemental Instruction (SI) program of the University of Missouri-Kansas City addresses attrition by providing academic support in courses that are high risk for students. The program contains a number of innovative features, for example: high risk courses are identified instead of high risk students, and everyone in those courses is offered…

A study was conducted to determine whether there is an identifiable coping personality related to academic achievement and retention for black college students. Low coping students were also taught coping strategies to determine whether mastering academic requirements facilitates achievement and persistence. The relationship of black student…

The first 2 years (1986-1988) of the implementation of Fordham University's Stay-In-School Partnership Project (SSPP), a dropout program for urban high-risk children, are described. The long-term goal of the partnership between Fordham's Graduate Schools of Education and Social Science and New York City School District No. 4, a school district…