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This report reflects ACT's three-decade commitment to assist colleges and universities to better understand the impact of campus practices on college student retention and degree completion. During that time ACT has conducted many research projects that demonstrate that commitment. Below are selected examples of this effort. Six National Surveys on Academic Advising Practices ACT believes that academic advising plays a pivotal role in student retention. That belief is clearly borne out by the findings of the survey discussed in this report. Beginning in 1979 ACT, in collaboration with the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), has conducted six national studies of campus practices in academic advising. The latest of these, The Status of Academic Advising: Findings from the ACT Sixth National Survey, is published in the NACADA monograph series. That monograph may be ordered through the NACADA website. www.nacada.ksu.edu. What Works in Student Retention (1980) The first What Works in Student Retention study (Beal and Noel, 1980) was a joint project of ACT and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS). Staff of NCHEMS and ACT developed and piloted the survey. In the complete study, surveys were sent to 2,459 two-year and four-year colleges with a response rate of 40.2%. As a part of this study, the authors collected information about 17 student characteristics and 10 institutional characteristics that contributed to attrition and retention. In addition, respondents were asked to select from a list of 20 action programs that had been implemented to improve retention. In the conclusions reached in the final report (now out of print), the authors cited the following three action program areas as critical to retention. • Academic stimulation and assistance: challenge in and support for academic performance • Personal future building: the identification and clarification of student goals and directions • Involvement experiences: student participation/interaction with a wide variety of programs and services on the campus ACT Dropout and Graduation Rate Tables (1983-2003) In 1982, ACT began collecting institutional data on first to second year retention and on degree completion rates through the Institutional Data Questionnaire (IDQ). The IDQ is an annual survey of 2,500-2,800 colleges and universities. Each year since 1983 ACT has published the ACT National Dropout and Degree Completion Tables. The most recent reports can be found on ACT's website: www.act.org/path/postsec/index.html.

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