ERIC Number: ED310805
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1989-Apr
Pages: 71
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Update on Student Persistence: A Report on the 1978 and 1980 Cohorts.
Murtha, James; And Others
A study was conducted at the City University of New York (CUNY) to investigate graduation and persistence over a 5-year period among students enrolled as freshmen in fall 1980, and to compare findings with a previous study of fall 1978 freshmen. The study drew from routine information on high school background; scores on CUNY skills assessment examinations in reading, writing, and mathematics; and survey data on socioeconomic background, financial resources, employment, and educational aspirations. Study findings included the following: (1) between 1978 and 1980, 5-year persistence rates remained constant at 35.5%, with a drop in graduation rates from 23.1% to 21.9% compensated for by an increase in retention from 12.6% to 13.6%; (2) persistence for students admitted to bachelor's degree (BA) programs fell from 47.0% to 46.4%, while persistence among associate degree students increased from 31.6% to 32.0%; (3) in comparison to national norms, CUNY students had lower family incomes, were more likely to work full time, and had a more extensive need for remediation in college; (4) by the end of the sophomore year, about two-thirds of the BA students, 55% of the associate degree students, and 60% of the students enrolled in special opportunity programs were still enrolled in the CUNY system; and (5) a trend toward longer periods of college attendance was evidenced by both associate and baccalaureate degree graduates, with the percentage of students taking longer than 4 years to obtain a BA increasing from 50% for 1970 freshmen to 67% for 1980 freshmen. Tables on retention and graduation rates are included for each CUNY campus. (JMC)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Academic Persistence, Associate Degrees, Bachelors Degrees, College Graduates, College Students, Community Colleges, Educational Trends, Educationally Disadvantaged, Higher Education, Minority Groups, Remedial Instruction, Student Attrition, Student Characteristics, Student Employment, Trend Analysis, Two Year College Students, Two Year Colleges, Urban Universities, Withdrawal (Education)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: City Univ. of New York, NY. Office of Institutional Research and Analysis.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A