Factors Affecting Individual Persistence Rates in Undergraduate College Programs

Abstract

This study uses a sample drawn from the National Longitudinal Surveys of young men attending college in the 1960's. Some of the principal conclusions of the multivariate analyses are: (1) Factors determining persistence vary widely with the stage of the undergraduate career; (2) race and parental SES bear no net relation to dropping out;(3) the impact of ability declines with progress toward graduation; (4) entering college in a two-year institution is inversely associated with persistence. These and other findings demonstrate that much previous research has perpetuated erroneous inferences about dropping out of college, not the least of which is that the process can be modeled in a single equation representing the likelihood of graduation by any given group of freshmen.Notwithstanding a vast literature on the achievement of success in higher education, there are major gaps in knowledge about the determinants of x

Race, Gender, and Measures of Success in Engineering Education

“…Findings on undergraduate persistence rates have varied because of both theoretical and empirical differences in how those findings are operationalized (c.f. Kohen, Nestel, & Karmas, 1978). Summerskill's (1962) literature review of the 40-year period from 1913-1953, for example, found that less than 40% of students graduated in four years from the institution they initially entered while an additional 10% eventually graduated from the same institution.…”

Crisis Reactions of College Freshmen As a Function of Family Support Systems

“…These studies suggest that most college students have definite dependencies for family support that need to be accommodated. Numerous authors have explored the demographic, academic, and psychological variables that affect the adjustment to college life by freshmen (e.g., Cope & Hannah, 1975;Dalton, 1977;Horenstein, 1976;Kohen, Nestel, & Karmas, 1978;Peng & Fetters, 1978). Although the studies identified many predictors of college success, few have examined…”

The effect of academic class level and gender on selected variables of nonpersisting students

“…As students progress through college, they become different students with different needs and concerns. The factors that affect retention and the character and process of dropping out vary depending on the stage of the students' development, gender, and class level stage at the institution (Kohen, Nestel, & Karmas, 1978;Tinto, 1982). In these days of limited financial resources, universities may be questioning where their retention resources should be directed.…”

“…As Bean (1986) indicated, it is necessary to identify the factors that influence attrition decisions for as many subgroups as possible. Only a few studies have looked at the actual differences in leaving that affect different class levels of students (Bean, 1985;Hossler, 1984;Kohen, Nestel, & Karmas, 1978;Tinto, 1988). Gender studies about persistence also need to be expanded as women's and men's roles in society today are quickly changing.…”

“…As Tinto is one of the primary researchers involved in retention study today, the literature by Tinto (1988) also includes a call for additional research on whether the process of student departure varies over time. Kohen, Nestel, and Karmas (1978) indicate that "the pervasive limitation of the research is its failure to treat success in college as a sequential process" (p. 234). Some researchers are beginning to recognize that the factors leading to a successful freshman year may vary from those factors that affect success in the following years (Tinto, 1987).…”