Predicting Persistence Of First-Time Freshmen At A Large-City Community College
Predicting Persistence Of First-Time Freshmen At A Large-City Community College

Author: William Laurance King III

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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The lack of student persistence is a burgeoning issue and over the last 40 years has become a national concern among researchers, administrators, policymakers and practitioners. Given the low persistence rates of first-year students at America's community colleges, leaders are searching for useful and successful strategies that will aid in closing the gap in student attrition. Successful completion of a degree or certificate is often considered the great economic equalizer in today's society from a public and cultural perspective. The purpose of this research study was to empirically investigate the odds ratio associated with predicting persistence that exists between first-time freshmen students who lived in campus housing and those who live off-campus at a large-city community college referred to as LCCC. Specifically, the focus of this study was to determine whether living in on-campus housing, receiving needs-based federal financial aid (Pell Grant), ethnicity, gender and enrolling in one or more developmental education courses are predictors of persistence. This study was predicated on the collection of quantitative data from a large-city community college's student information system from the years 2010 through 2013. The researcher has concluded based on the data analysis of this research study the results were statistically insignificant for those students living on-campus when compared to those students living off-campus. An analysis of Ethnicity as a predictor of persistence revealed that in the short-term African-American students actually persisted at higher rates than their counterparts. However, in three of the last four semesters analyzed, African-Americans persisted at significantly lower rates than White students. Lastly, an analysis of the students who were enrolled in Developmental Education (Remedial) courses suggested that the odds are significantly lower concerning persistence versus their counterparts. However, it must be noted that both Hispanic students and those receiving needs-based financial aid (Pell) attrition was no worse than their counterparts. Based on the complex nature of both the community college student and the unique opportunity for them to live on-campus, additional data is required in order to measure and evaluate whether housing status promotes improved academic persistence. The reported research studies pertaining to community colleges and living on-campus are meager at best. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/155442

A Sociocultural Roadmap to Academic Achievement: Exploring the Support and Challenges of First-Generation College Students as They Persist in College
A Sociocultural Roadmap to Academic Achievement: Exploring the Support and Challenges of First-Generation College Students as They Persist in College

Author: Sharon Lanre-Orepo

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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In recent years, an increasing number of first-generation college students have pursued higher education. However, previous studies found that these students are significantly more likely to depart before their second year in college and encounter more challenges that impede them from pursuing a college degree. The purpose of the current study is to examine the role of support factors and the academic and social burden associated with first-generation college students in predicting persistence. The study also examined the role of instructor support and academic self-efficacy in predicting college persistence. A total of 145 first-generation college students completed a survey that assessed family support, instructor support, social support, college persistence, college academic self-efficacy, and academic and social burden. Results revealed that instructor support and social support significantly predicted higher college persistence, and that family support and social support significantly predicted lower academic and social burden. The results also demonstrated that academic self-efficacy predicted college persistence after controlling for support factors and that academic self-efficacy mediated the relationship between instructor support and college persistence. These findings indicate that academic self-efficacy is not a rigid personality trait but can be impacted by a student's college experience, particularly the student's relationship with a trusted instructor. Findings from this research can guide institutions of higher education to implement programs and practices to help more first-generation college students realize their academic dreams and goals.

First-Generation College Students
First-Generation College Students

Author: Lee Ward

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-07-10

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 0470474440

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FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS "…a concise, manageable, lucid summary of the best scholarship, practices, and future-oriented thinking about how to effectively recruit, educate, develop, retain, and ultimately graduate first-generation students." —from the foreword by JOHN N. GARDNER First-generation students are frequently marginalized on their campuses, treated with benign disregard, and placed at a competitive disadvantage because of their invisibility. While they include 51% of all undergraduates, or approximately 9.3 million students, they are less likely than their peers to earn degrees. Among students enrolled in two-year institutions, they are significantly less likely to persist into a second year. First-Generation College Students offers academic leaders and student affairs professionals a guide for understanding the special challenges and common barriers these students face and provides the necessary strategies for helping them transition through and graduate from their chosen institutions. Based in solid research, the authors describe best practices and include suggestions and techniques that can help leaders design and implement effective curricula, out-of-class learning experiences, and student support services, as well as develop strategic plans that address issues sure to arise in the future. The authors offer an analysis of first-generation student expectations for college life and academics and examine the powerful role cultural capital plays in shaping their experiences and socialization. Providing a template for other campuses, the book highlights programmatic initiatives at colleges around the county that effectively serve first-generation students and create a powerful learning environment for their success. First-Generation College Students provides a much-needed portrait of the cognitive, developmental, and social factors that affect the college-going experiences and retention rates of this growing population of college students.

Increasing Persistence
Increasing Persistence

Author: Wesley R. Habley

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-09-04

Total Pages: 513

ISBN-13: 0470888431

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INCREASING PERSISTENCE "Of all the books addressing the puzzle of student success and persistence, I found this one to be the most helpful and believe it will be extremely useful to faculty and staff attempting to promote student success. The authors solidly ground their work in empirical research, and do a brilliant job providing both an overview of the relevant literature as well as research-based recommendations for intervention." GAIL HACKETT, PH.D., provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs; professor, counseling and educational psychology, University of Missouri, Kansas City Research indicates that approximately forty percent of all college students never earn a degree anywhere, any time in their lives. This fact has not changed since the middle of the 20th century. Written for practitioners and those who lead retention and persistence initiatives at both the institutional and public policy levels, Increasing Persistence offers a compendium on college student persistence that integrates concept, theory, and research with successful practice. It is anchored by the ACT's What Works in Student Retention (WWISR) survey of 1,100 colleges and universities, an important resource that contains insights on the causes of attrition and identifies retention interventions that are most likely to enhance student persistence.?? The authors focus on three essential conditions for student success: students must learn; students must be motivated, committed, engaged, and self-regulating; and students must connect with educational programs consistent with their interests and abilities. The authors offer a detailed discussion of the four interventions that research shows are the most effective for helping students persist and succeed: assessment and course placement, developmental education initiatives, academic advising, and student transition programming. Finally, they urge broadening the current retention construct, providing guidance to policy makers, campus leaders, and individuals on the contributions they can make to student success.

Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education
Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education

Author: William G. Bowen

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 200?

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 9780813933399

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Thomas Jefferson once stated that the foremost goal of American education must be to nurture the "natural aristocracy of talent and virtue." Although in many ways American higher education has fulfilled Jefferson's vision by achieving a widespread level of excellence, it has not achieved the objective of equity implicit in Jefferson's statement. In Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education, William G. Bowen, Martin A. Kurzweil, and Eugene M. Tobin explore the cause for this divide. Employing historical research, examination of the most recent social science and public policy scholarship, international comparisons, and detailed empirical analysis of rich new data, the authors study the intersection between "excellence" and "equity" objectives. Beginning with a time line tracing efforts to achieve equity and excellence in higher education from the American Revolution to the early Cold War years, this narrative reveals the halting, episodic progress in broadening access across the dividing lines of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The authors argue that despite our rhetoric of inclusiveness, a significant number of youth from poor families do not share equal access to America's elite colleges and universities. While America has achieved the highest level of educational attainment of any country, it runs the risk of losing this position unless it can markedly improve the precollegiate preparation of students from racial minorities and lower-income families. After identifying the "equity" problem at the national level and studying nineteen selective colleges and universities, the authors propose a set of potential actions to be taken at federal, state, local, and institutional levels. With recommendations ranging from reform of the admissions process, to restructuring of federal financial aid and state support of public universities, to addressing the various precollegiate obstacles that disadvantaged students face at home and in school, the authors urge all selective colleges and universities to continue race-sensitive admissions policies, while urging the most selective (and privileged) institutions to enroll more well-qualified students from families with low socioeconomic status.

True Grit
True Grit

Author: Alayne J. Bowman

Publisher:

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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While students have enrolled in college at increased rates since 1996, graduation rates have remained mostly stagnant (NCES, 2022). First-generation Appalachian students, specifically, had lower college completion rates but higher college enrollment rates than their peers (ARC, 2018). Since 2007, researchers have supported the use of non-cognitive behavior traits in predicting college student success rather than traditional cognitive measures and grit has been a consistent success indicator (Bazelais et al., 2017; Duckworth et al., 2007; Kundu, 2014). The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate first-year students to determine the nature of difference, if any, to grit levels on college first-term GPAs while controlling for demographic variables, the predictability of grit scores on first-term GPAs, and the predictive quality of semester-to-semester enrollment on grit scores for all students and specifically first-generation Appalachian students. In the fall 2022 semester, I surveyed 201 first-year students using the Grit-O scale (Duckworth et al., 2007) at a small private liberal arts college in Tennessee. I found there was a significant difference in students’ fall semester GPAs between grit levels while controlling for Appalachian status and high school GPAs. As grit levels increased, the fall semester GPA increased. Grit scores did not predict fall semester GPAs for first-generation Appalachian students specifically but did predict fall semester GPAs for the entire population. Spring enrollment did not predict grit scores for any first-year students. The results of this study can assist institutions in providing necessary resources to students as grit scores could provide the opportunity for interventions early in the students’ collegiate careers to increase retention, ultimately leading to the completion of a bachelor’s degree.