Student retention is the field of institutional research that has (deservedly) had the most attention. Besides the models proposed by Tinto (1975, 1993), there have been many theoretical and applied papers on many aspects of student retention. These include demographic characteristics, scholastic scores, financial and residential considerations,…

This study reports how an institutional research office at a large public research university has taken the lead to call attention to retention problems, describe attrition/retention predictors, and influence policy. Building on existing retention theories and previous institutional research studies, the institutional research office began…

Problems associated with determining attrition rates and causes of attrition in the Regents External Degree Program of the University of the State of New York were studied. Students were defined as having dropped out of the program if they had not paid their annual records fee (registration fee). Data are provided to compare attrition figures to…

This document from the Miami-Dade Community College Office of Institutional Research (Florida) briefly reports student retention rates at the college for the year 2000. Retention rates for degree-seeking students in 2000 increased from 1998 for all major ethnic categories. The year 2000 total college retention rate was 72.5%. Retention rates by…

Possible relationships among selected psychological, sociological, and economic characteristics of doctoral students were studied, and these characteristics were compared for students who completed or withdrew from Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D.) programs at West Virginia University. Questionnaires were mailed to 254 Ed.D. recipients and 287…

A retention plan was developed to quantify and qualify the attrition problem and to establish action plans to improve retention for a regional university serving many nontraditional students. Cameron University, a state institution in Oklahoma, provides both associate and bachelor degree programs. The attrition problems were difficult to identify…

This study applied the methodology of competing risks survival analysis to determine the probability that a student's first enrollment in the university will end in graduation, transfer, or withdrawal. The risk factors associated with each mode of exit were assessed, with attention to factors such as admission status, full-time or part-time…

A model to distinguish persisters and nonpersisters at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, was developed. Persisters and nonpersisters differed in background characteristics, attitudes toward and interaction with the university, opportunities to leave, and intentions. Responses to a mail survey were returned by 86 first-time freshmen…

Variables that best explain variance in student attrition for 168 freshmen students from a college of agriculture within a major midwestern university were studied in 1979. Variables were selected from a theoretical causal model of student attrition (Bean, 1981), a review of the literature (Bean, 1978), and five empirical investigations conducted…

Attrition of 1978 first-time students at Tidewater Community College and student demographic and attitudinal characteristics were investigated to assist the college in decreasing attrition of new students. Nonreturnees were identified and distinguished from students readmitted to the college during the subsequent five quarters. Information is…

Pre-enrollment characteristics that distinguish nonpersisting students from students who persist into the second semester of their freshman year were studied at the University of Iowa in 1978. Three sources of information were used to obtain predictor variables: American College Testing (ACT) program test scores, the ACT Student Profile, and high…

Reasons that students enter or leave the University of Montana (UM) were studied in fall 1983. Consideration was given to first-term freshmen of traditional age, slightly older students (under age 25), transfer students, dropouts, and students who persisted at the university for 1 academic year. In study phase 1, attention was directed to…

Demographic, academic, and other college-related characteristics of the persisting and nonpersisting students at Old Dominion University were investigated during a one-year period from fall 1976 to fall 1977. Information was collected from the student master registration file for a study population of 11,637 undergraduates. The students ranged in…

The academic persistence of undergraduate students at Arizona State University was studied. Demographic and academic profiles were developed, and persistence rates were calculated for the overall population of 3,166 freshmen, and by gender and ethnicity. Additional demographic variables were residency status and age. The academic variables…

A survey designed to predict freshman attrition was developed and tested at the University of Kansas. The 75-item survey, the Entering Freshman Survey, was administered to a uniform random sample of one-half of the freshmen entering the university in the fall 1979 semester or entering in the summer 1979 term and reenrolling in the fall. Based on…