The literature and typical approaches to reducing attrition among college students are critiqued, and a strategy for the identification of different interventions likely to have positive effects on retention rates of different student subgroups is proposed. It is claimed that a small sample approach to empirical testing of the combinations of…

The College Venture Program, a Boston-based consortium of New England liberal arts colleges, annually helps place hundreds of student clients--"stopouts" or "interruptees"--in temporary jobs while they contemplate their future college plans. Counseling services are offered and a job bank is maintained. (LBH)

Hundreds of companies are beginning drives to prepare "at-risk" schoolchildren for higher education and eventually pay their tuition, a major change in emphasis from recent corporate giving patterns. (MSE)

Examines the effects of an intrusive advising program on the attrition rate of college freshmen and sophomores. Identifies reasons students drop out and outlines an advising program used at Western New Mexico University. Results showed the intrusive advising program to be effective in reducing attrition rates. (BH)

The difference between educational research and educational program evaluation is discussed, and the evaluation of a German engineering program experiencing high dropout rates is described. Data were gathered through guided personal interviews, written student reports, and student evaluations of lectures. Both curriculum and examinations were…

The University of Akron, a major urban university, has experienced unusually high attrition rates for students enrolled in the two largest colleges. The university has attempted to meet this problem by committee recommendations and questionnaire/demographic data gathering and analysis, which has resulted in some success. (Author/RC)

Studies social personality types and assesses the relationship of Holland's secondary construct of consistency to persistence in college and academic achievement. Results indicated that, for both persisters and nonpersisters in college, subjects with higher levels of consistency achieve higher college grade point averages than subjects with lower…

California's Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program, based at the University of California at Berkeley, administers Minority Engineering Programs on 18 public and private college and university campuses. The programs have been successful in raising retention rates among underrepresented minority groups, and are being…

Discussion of student retention at community colleges identifies reasons for student failure and withdrawal, concluding that many students leave school for reasons such as emotional problems, poor motivation, and financial problems over which instructors have no control. Suggests too much emphasis on retaining ill-prepared students detracts from…

This paper describes and encourages the application of 20 classroom techniques to enhance the retention and success of black male college students. Though retention enhancement programs work best when institution-wide support and commitment are behind them, the techniques described here can be implemented in the classroom with significant results…

Research and programs concerning college student retention are considered. Based on research studies, reasons why students depart prior to graduation are examined. The literature about corrective actions that can be taken and University of Tennessee data about student retention are discussed. A recent study at the University of Tennessee,…

Is there an effective way to reduce freshman attrition at Duke University? If a group of freshman students preidentified as exit prone is provided with more advising time from a member of the ranked faculty, then the rate of attrition from this exit-prone group will be less than the attrition rate for the rest of the freshman cohort. Is there a…

Because the phenomenon of delayed graduation--the practice of prolonging the college career beyond the normal 4 years of undergraduate study--is so widespread researchers speculated that "continuers" might have certain common characteristics which would differentiate them as a group from "completers." The objective of this…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of various activities designed to retain dropout-prone college students at Southwest Missouri State College through the use of experimental grouping and the development of counseling and guidance activities for these students. One hundred forty potential dropouts were selected from the…

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities will begin testing a comprehensive project to reverse the low educational attainment of Hispanic students in Texas. The project aims to increase high-school graduation, raise college-going rate, increase graduation rate of college students, and raise transfer rates of community college…