The concept of impact, as it is treated in this report, is based on the notion of "expected changes in student behavior and attitudes as contrasted to "actual" changes. Following a review of the literature on college impact and a discussion of its relevance to the two-year college, this document presents an empirical model for…

A study examined the effects of individual characteristics, institutional characteristics and experiences, and financial aid on African-American and White students' degree aspirations. Students' aspirations were mostly the result of socioeconomic factors, initial degree aspirations, and institutional characteristics. Financial aid was not a…

Changes in America's undergraduate students (cultural diversity, age, expectations of college and career, psychological and social background, patterns of socializing) add up to the demise of traditional residential college life. Colleges can address these shifts by focusing their efforts, using all available opportunities to educate student,…

Analyzed the effect of social integration on academic performance among Mexican American, black, and Native American students at a large, southwestern public university. Formal social integration--participation in student organizations and faculty contact--has a much greater impact on academic performance than does informal social integration.…

Conversations with and among students in their residential environment illuminate the role of peer subcultures in shaping what students learn and how they define learning. An excerpt from a year-long ethnographic case study examines the ways in which residents of an undergraduate women's residential unit at a state comprehensive university talk…

This monograph explores recent theory and research on the importance of student effort and involvement in college activities as decisive elements in promoting positive college outcomes. An opening section introduces the issue and is followed by a section outlining the fundamental work of Robert Pace who found that college outcomes depend on…

A sample of six small, liberal arts, Christian colleges were compared to schools within the structural classification of liberal arts colleges. The comparison was based on 11 environmental dimensions measured by the Institutional Functioning Inventory (IFI), which used the collective perception technique (i.e., the combined responses of all…

In 1982, a follow-up study was conducted of Santa Ana College (SAC) graduates who had transferred to and were currently attending four neighboring four-year colleges: California State University, Fullerton; California State University, Long Beach; California Polytechnic University; and the University of California, Irvine. Surveys were mailed to…

Differences between black and white undergraduate student backgrounds and perceptions concerning a predominantly white university prior to college entrance, while enrolled, and within one year after receipt of a baccalaureate degree were examined. Data were collected between 1978 and 1980 from students at the University of North Carolina at…

Full-time undergraduate student responses to the University of Maryland 1970 University Student Census and to anonymous questionnaires are summarized. Ninety-four percent (22,000) of the students took the University Student Census, an activities and attitude survey given annually to all full-time undergraduates. Approximately 5,000 new freshmen…

Factors that influence voluntary withdrawal from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are investigated. A survey based on a cohort of students admitted for the first time in fall 1977 was conducted with a response rate of approximately 50 percent. Major and minor reasons for not returning to the university are tabulated for males and…

This study investigated the interactive effects of student personality, values, and changing college environment at Felician College, a church-related two-year Women's college in Illinois. Students enrolled in 1968 were compared with students enrolled in 1974, during which time the enrollment of the college changed from a majority of highly…

This document contains papers intended to identify problems and issues confronting institutional research and to assess the measured response of institutional researchers. The following general topics are covered: (1) the campus and its environment, (2) allocation of college and university resources, (3) faculty workload and effectiveness, (4)…

This document reports the methodology and results of the third annual statewide student follow-up study of the Maryland community colleges. Questionnaires were sent to 19,634 persons who were first-time students in a Maryland community college in fall, 1972. Response rate was 48%. A sequential sampling procedure was used to test for nonrespondent…

An overview of the evolution of the innovative University of California, Santa Cruz, looks at its origins, campus organization, curriculum and instructional philosophy, campus design, leadership and faculty, student population, campus life, and curriculum design. Strategies for and obstacles to effective change are highlighted. (MSE)