A follow-up study of Minneapolis Community College (MCC) initiates to Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), a national honorary fraternity for community colleges, was conducted to ascertain information on students' educational and employment experience since initiation and to obtain suggestions for additional courses and ways in which education at MCC could be…

A study was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) to determine why students stopped attending classes during fall 1979 without officially withdrawing. From a group of students who were reported to be not attending classes at midterm, 400 students were selected for the survey. The questionnaire solicited information about why students…

Because of a wide diversity of grading practices and policies among California community colleges, its impact upon students, and the need for compliance with state minimum standards, a study group was appointed to examine existing regulations and make recommendations to promote commonality among grading policies. Issues such as local autonomy,…

This study examined selected characteristics of 1,682 students who withdrew from Los Angeles City College during the spring semesters of 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1976, and compared them to the characteristics of the spring 1976 total day student population. About 68% of the withdrawees were of non-Caucasian background, compared with a non-Caucasian…

Questionnaires were mailed to a sample of 1,980 non-returning, non-occupational students who had been enrolled at Cerritos College during spring 1976 but did not return in fall 1976, in order to test the applicability of the California community college Student Accountability Model (SAM), a statewide follow-up system for occupational students, to…

Describes a study which contrasted the persistence rates of community college transfer students with those of native university students over a six-year period. Indicates that transfer students had lower persistence rates than native students during their second and third terms, though rates for the fourth term showed no differences. (DMM)

More than 90% of Bronx Community College (BCC) (New York) students require remedial coursework, and more than 90% also qualify for federal and state aid. Almost all of the freshmen at BCC are the first in their families to attend college. Most of the student body are women, many of whom have children, and there is a large population of…

To obtain a quantitative meta-analysis of studies addressing the effects of community college Developmental Studies Programs (DSPs) on students enrolled in higher education, an analysis was undertaken of a sample of studies culled from journal articles, dissertations, unpublished works found in ERIC, and published and unpublished proceedings of…

A five-year follow-up study is being conducted of l0,015 students who transferred from Illinois two-year colleges to 42 senior institutions in the state in fall 1979. An analysis of the persistence and achievement rates of the transfer students during their second year after transfer (1980-81) revealed: (1) 71% of the Associate in Arts…

In 1989, a follow-up study of non-returning students who had attended Johnson County Community College (JCCC) during fall 1985, spring 1986, or summer 1986 was conducted to assess the former students' achievement of their educational goals. A target population of 7,910 long-term leavers was surveyed regarding their opinions and perceptions of…

The assessment of the institutional effectiveness of community colleges is illustrated through a description of the assessment program used by Johnson County Community College in Overland Park (Kansas). Emphasis is on measures of the degree to which students meet their educational objectives, identified through career, transfer, and…

In fall 1986, the San Diego Community College District initiated a pilot project to develop and offer an honors curriculum. After the first semester, during which 11 courses were offered to 110 students, an evaluation was conducted, consisting of the development of a profile of participants, a survey of students who withdrew from the program, and…

An overview is provided of the problem of student attrition and the essential components of effective retention programs. Following introductory arguments that the secret of retention is in the development of communities committed to education rather than retention, the paper discusses several major causes of student attrition, including academic…

A study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) to determine the extent to which the college's Associate in Arts (AA) degree graduates possessed the characteristics of "nontraditional" students (e.g., older, employed, married, or attending on a part-time or stopout basis). A random sample of 400 AA graduates was drawn from the 2,829…

A study was conducted to investigate the validity of Tinto's model of college withdrawal in a public four-year college and a private two-year institution. The model consists of six sets of variables in a causal sequence; i.e., background characteristics, initial goal and institutional commitment, academic and social integration, subsequent goal…