A study was conducted to examine the effects of four independent variables, i.e., college, department, teacher, and course, on course completion rates at the City Colleges of Chicago. Three colleges were chosen as representative of the eight City Colleges, and the English, Business, and Mathematics Departments were chosen from the departments with…

Because of the unique nature of community colleges, no single model or calculation of attrition can fit all institutions. Each college falls somewhere on the continuum between the degree-oriented junior college, in which students pursue a linear pattern of enrollment from entry to graduation, to the consumer-oriented community college, in which…

As part of a continuing program of monitoring the number of student withdrawals and tuition refunds at William Rainey Harper College, students dropping courses during fall 1980 were surveyed to determine their characteristics and reasons for withdrawal. Students who simply stopped attending courses were not included in the study. The survey…

A survey was conducted by North Shore Community College during 1979 to determine the reasons why students in the Division of Continuing Education drop out of college. During the survey, a randomly selected sample of the 1,706 continuing education students who had been enrolled during Fall 1978 but who did not reenroll in Spring 1979 were asked to…

In Spring 1980, a study was conducted at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) to determine selected information about students who indicated during Fall semester registration that they intended to return the following Spring, but who failed to do so. One aspect of the study involved a comparison of returning and non-returning students with…

In order to assess the foreign language programs currently offered by Oakton Community College (OCC), a three-part investigation was undertaken in 1974. First, to examine grade distribution and drop-out rate, the records of students enrolled in language courses were compared with the records of the total student body. During the spring, summer and…

This annotated bibliography focuses on literature of student attrition at the college level published for the most part between 1965 and 1973. The articles focus mostly on research studies on attrition. Descriptive articles have been included when they were perceived to extend the concept of attrition. Dissertations and theses have not been…

Mattatuck Community College implemented non-punitive grading practices into its grading system in the Fall 1973 semester. These practices centered about the elimination of plus and minus grades, elimination of the grade of F, and liberalizing the course withdrawal policy to allow for withdrawal without penalty throughout the semester. A comparison…

This paper uses the Chain of Response Model (CRM) to help explain retention in the community college population. In the CRM, the student's decision to remain at an educational institution is not an isolated act, but rather the result of a complex chain of responses based on her/his cognitive evaluation of the present situation. The authors applied…

Presents the findings of a study investigating student and teacher perceptions of the academic abilities of students enrolled in liberal arts courses; students' need for and use of support services; and course attrition rates. Suggests alternatives to promote student success. (WL)

Cites references from the ERIC junior college collection which relate to retention and persistence in the community college and includes a bibliography of doctoral dissertations on the subject. (AYC)

Describes a study that analyzes variables affecting students' decisions to withdraw from liberal arts and science courses. Findings indicated that students with higher GPAs were more likely to withdraw from class than students with low GPAs, perhaps to preserve their averages and repeat the course with higher grades. Contains five data tables and…

A study was undertaken at College of the Canyons, in California, to determine the underlying reasons for student attrition. Questionnaires were mailed to all 2,511 students who had officially withdrawn from the college between fall 1992 and spring 1994. A total of 391 completed questionnaires were returned for a response rate of 16%. Results…

To gather data on factors associated with the withdrawal of first-time students before they achieved their educational goals, Riverside Community College (RCC), in California, conducted a study of 742 students who were attending RCC for the first time in 1994-95. The students were surveyed by telephone during their first and second semesters and…

In 1989, Johnson County Community College (JCCC, Kansas) conducted studies of "leavers"--students who had been enrolled at JCCC during a specific period of time and had not graduated, earned a certificate, transferred to another college or university, or left the college with marketable skills developed in one of JCCC's career programs.…