Education Commons^™

Grounded Practical Theory To Improve Persistence-Retention Strategic Enrollment Management, Kenneth W. Borland Jr.

Journal of Research, Assessment, and Practice in Higher Education

The author introduces grounded practical theory (GPT) as a useful research approach in the field of strategic enrollment management (SEM) and its focus on persistence-retention. The GPT approach is then illustrated by engaging sample voices of persistence-retention and SEM; scientific theory (the philosophical level) and normative theory (the technical level) as observed in the literature. The scientific theory voices and normative theory voices are then positioned in relation to voices of students and practitioners (observed respondents) who have identified real world persistence-retention and SEM problems. These problems suggest implications for reconstructing the relationship between persistence-retention and SEM philosophical, theoretical, and …

Student Success Behaviors And Gender: Exploring The Impact On First-Year Students, Sarah Ramage

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

College demographics are rapidly evolving, and one area of concern is the enrollment and retention rates of male students. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that in 2010, 57 percent of undergraduate students were female (Weaver-Hightower, 2010). The same report stated that the percentage was projected to grow to 59 percent by 2018 (Weaver-Hightower, 2010). Between 1997 and 2007, female enrollment has risen dramatically faster than male enrollment, with a 29 percent jump in 10 years. Male enrollment increased by 22 percent in the same time (Weaver-Hightower, 2010). Over time, this growing gender imbalance in higher education has been …

African-American Males, Part-Time Work, And Persistence, Ami M. Tripp

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The central research question for this study asked how do African-American males perceive working part-time, while enrolled full-time, to have an impact on their persistence? A secondary question asked, what factors influenced African-American male students to persist through graduation? The participants comprised of 35 African-American male college students who graduated Spring 2016. This study was focused on part-time employment and its support of persistence for African-American men. Hence, persistence theory was the most pertinent lens through which to view the literature and the data collected in this study. This study employed a case study research, as it is an empirical …

The Effect Of The Sophomore Slump On Students’ Persistence, Vanessa Harris

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

For years, universities have focused on student admissions and getting students through their first-year. According to Schaller (2010), this has resulted in limited literature and research regarding the persistence of sophomore students. From Fall 2010 to Fall 2015, the University of New Mexico (UNM) has experienced a decrease in the persistence of its cohorts from the third to the fifth semester. The existence of this higher attrition rate amongst sophomore students has been associated with a phenomenon known as the “sophomore slump” (Tobolowsky & Cox, 2007). The purpose of this research study was to utilize student retention conceptual models to …

Examining The Sense Of Belonging Of First-Generation Students And Their College Persistence: An Exploratory Interview Study, Jamia Wiley Stokes

Doctoral Dissertations

It has been suggested that low-income, students of color, and first-generation students face major impediments to feeling like they belong on campus (Ostrove & Long, 2007). Because first-generation students come to college with a myriad of challenges that directly impact their first-year experience, understanding how best to support this population is a crucial responsibility. Sense of belonging has been shown to be related to academic achievement, retention, and persistence to degree completion for students from historically marginalized groups (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Rhee, 2008; Strayhorn, 2008d; Walton & Cohen, 2011). The purpose of this study was to understand how first-generation …

Identifying As Husbands, Fathers, And School Leaders: A Phenomenology Of Doctoral Persistence Among Limited Residency Students, John Patterson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental phenomenological study investigated doctoral persistence for males (N = 13) who completed their limited residency doctoral program (LRDP) while managing their family roles as fathers and husbands, and while performing their work role as a K-12 lead school administrator. Participants were selected via snowball sampling from private universities that offered a LRDP in the United States. The theories guiding this study were Tinto’s (1975, 1993, 2006) student integration theory (SIT) and Hobfoll’s (1989) conservation of resource model (COR). Tinto’s (1975, 1993, 2006) SIT explained the academic and social interaction between the individual and the institution, while Hobfoll’s (1989) …

Native And Community College Transfer Students In Biological Sciences At A Four-Year Institution: A Comparative Study, Nathanial Weber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between native and community college transfer students and identify factors that predicted upper-level biology course grade-point average and final overall grade-point average at a four-year institution in biological sciences. The results of this study indicated four-year institution persistence was not significantly related to gender, high school grade-point average, or ACT composite score. Persistence was significantly related to transfer status; whether the student was a native or community college transfer student with native students persisting at a higher rate at the four-year institution than community college transfer students. Furthermore, ACT composite score, …

Relationship Between Advisor Servant Leadership Behaviors And First-Year Students' Intent To Persist, Jennifer Kelly

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This correlational study sought to determine the relationship between advisor servant leadership behaviors and first-year students’ intent to persist from fall 2016 to spring 2017 and from spring 2017 to fall 2017 with students in a private, four-year, religiously affiliated university in the United States. The research was grounded in Tinto’s (1975) persistence theory and Greenleaf’s (1977) theory of servant leadership. The Advisor Servant Leadership Behavior Scale (ASLBS) (Paul, 2012) and descriptive analysis were applied. Study results indicated that all four servant-leader constructs, degree awareness (DA), conceptual mapping (CM), advising environment (AE), and holistic growth (HG), were associated with advisors’ …

Non-U.S. Citizen, Community College Students: Their Federal Student Aid Status, Gender, Achievement, And Persistence At An Emerging Hsi, Jafeth E. Sanchez, Jeannette Smith

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This study presents a quantitative, exploratory analysis of 535 students attending Truckee Meadows Community College in Northern Nevada who were eligible or ineligible for federal student aid and were non-U.S. citizens. Within a snapshot of the Fall 2015 through Fall 2016 semesters, we examined the variables of gender, grade point average (GPA), credits earned, type of financial aid, amount of financial aid, persistence, and graduation status of these two groups via a collaboration between two institutions. Results revealed no statistically significant differences by gender. Non-U.S. citizens attained similar GPAs regardless of eligibility for aid, but there were differences in credit …

Persistence To Graduation: Is It The Money, High School Preparation, Or First Semester College Matriculation?, Mary E. Anderson, Noran L. Moffett

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This research study examined the relationship between persistence to graduation within six years and selected variables including financial aid awarded, high school GPA, ACT composite scores, SAT combined scores, and first-year first-semester GPA. It is well documented in research literature that high school preparation, college entrance examinations, and freshman year academic performance play a significant role in degree completion; however, studies on the impact of financial aid have not been as abundant. The researchers developed the College Persistence – Financial Aid Coding Technique System (CP-FACTS) to explore the influences of finances on degree attainment.

In this study, a documentary research …

Bridging The Gap: A Phenomenological Study Of Interpersonal Relationships To Foster Campus Community Among Nontraditional College Students, Ashvindar K. Singh

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate if the interpersonal relationships among nontraditional college students with each other, faculty, and staff play a role in fostering a sense of campus community at a private career and technical education junior college. Furthermore, the connection between a sense of campus community and students feeling a sense of belonging, increase their self-esteem, and achieving self-actualization as Maslow defined it was explored. In addition, the students reporting feeling a sense of community at a private career and technical education junior college and its relationship to motivating students to attend classes and complete …

Community College Latino Male Student Engagement: A Qualitative Research Study, Becky E. Barabé

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

According to Saenz and Ponjuan (2009), “Latino males are effectively vanishing from the American higher education pipeline” (p. 54). Despite a steady increase of Latino students enrolling over the past several decades, the problem remains that Latino male student persistence and completion rates are not keeping up proportionally with other student population groups (Castellanos, Gloria, & Kamimura, 2006). The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to understand how Latino male students describe their educational experience within the community college system, and provide recommendations for educational practitioners to improve programs and services that support Latino male student persistence and completion. …

Testing Our Assumptions: The Role Of First Course Grade And Course Level In Mathematics And English, Janet Callahan, Marcia Belcheir

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Methods that provide an early indicator of factors that affect student persistence are important to colleges and universities. This quantitative research focused on the role of level of entry mathematics and English and also on grades earned in those classes as they relate to persistence after one year. The research showed that by far, the variable most predictive of first-time, full-time students enrolling one year later was earning a grade of “A” in English. Compared to those who did not pass their first English course, students who earned an “A” were three times more likely to persist. The variables which …

American Indian Professionals: Educational Decision-Making And Persistence, Colleen M. Burke

Theses and Dissertations

American Indian graduate students are experiencing a higher matriculation rate in higher education today; however, those rates are still lower than other underrepresented minority groups’ rates. The purpose of this study is to conduct exploratory research to investigate the decision-making process of American Indian/Alaskan Native professionals who persisted to graduation from their graduate programs. This study explores the participants’ graduate school experiences relating to education, tribal values, decisions, their social support, and perseverance. The theoretical framework of decisionmaking theory, i.e. Prospect Theory, was used to evaluate the educational decisions of the participants. Decision-making theorists include corporate culture in their discussions; …

Noncognitive Variables To Predict Academic Success Among Junior Year Baccalaureate Nursing Students, Ellen Mary Tuve Smith

Dissertations - ALL

An equitable predictor of academic success is needed as nursing education strives toward comprehensive preparation of diverse nursing students. The purpose of this study was to discover how Sedlacek’s (2004a) Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) and Duckworth & Quinn’s (2009) Grit-S predicted baccalaureate nursing student academic performance and persistence in the junior year, when considered in conjunction with academic variables such as previous college GPAs and the SAT. Three cohorts of junior year nursing students (N= 150) answered the survey, and their academic records were combed for previous college GPAs and SAT scores. After the junior academic year, these variables were regressed …

College Experiences Of The Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians, R. W. Lasher, Donald W. Good

Donald W. Good

A survey was distributed to all enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian (EBCI) college students to compare the experiences of those attending Tribal and non-tribal colleges. The results of the survey provided data for a nonexperimental quantitative study that addressed 18 research questions in an effort to determine whether there is a significant difference between the educational experiences of EBCI college students who attend non-tribal institutions and those who attend Tribal colleges. In particular, there was a focus on three domains: student viewpoints on separation and alienation from their tribal community; tribal community connections; and individual perceptions …

Black Male Persistence Through Stereotypes In College, Taylor B. H. Boyd

Masters Theses

Stereotypes create threatening environments for Black males on campus causing social, psychological, and academic effects of Black male collegiate success. The theoretical underpinnings of stereotype threat and critical race theory drive this study and explain where stereotypes derive from and how they create threatening environments for stereotyped Black male collegians. In addition, this thesis seeks to break the deficit narrative surrounding Black males in college. In doing so, this study highlights how Black males persist through stereotypes and the threatening environments they create in both academic and social settings in college. The qualitative phenomenological research design captures the lived experiences …

Persistence Factors Revealed: Students’ Reflections On Completing A Fully Online Program, Dazhi Yang, Sally Baldwin, Chareen Snelson

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the rapid growth in online programs, online programs routinely face student attrition. How to retain students and help students successfully complete an online program is usually a top priority for online programs. This study investigated persistence factors that contributed to students’ successful completion from one of the largest and most successful online programs in the United States. Results show that both personal and program attributes contributed to students’ successful completion of a fully online program. Main individual attributes include interest in or career goals related to technology, time and effort invested, and perceived utility of learning. Main program attributes …

Utilizing The Nsse To Examine Behavior And Characteristic Differences Between First-Year Students Who Persisted With First-Year Students Who Did Not Persist, Alice Ruth Griffin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the differences between first-year students who persisted with first-year students who did not persist to the second year at a mid-size, doctorate-granting, public, research university in the mid-south. Specifically, the study utilized the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to compare the level of student-faculty interaction, experiences with the campus environment, and engagement in collaborative learning. Additionally, the study examined whether the differences in the three student engagement behaviors varied by gender, race/ethnicity, and first-generation college student status. Three theoretical frameworks were used as the foundation for the study including Tinto’s model of institutional action, Astin’s theory …

Choice And Growth Mindset, Neysa B. Matt

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This study sought to determine if lessons in growth mindset would improve engagement and thus positively affect elementary students in finishing work, and if enhanced engagement would enrich work quality. Prior to implementation, a tally of incomplete work cycles and an assessment of students’ overall persistence were gathered. Student interviews regarding their views on unfinished work were conducted. Five students were randomly selected to provide work samples which were assessed by the students and their teacher. Twenty-six, six to nine years-olds in a private, lower elementary Montessori classroom received four lessons to promote a growth mindset and were assessed for …

Persistence In Stem: Development Of A Persistence Model Integrating Self-Efficacy, Outcome Expectations And Performance In Chemistry Gateway Courses, Shalini Srinivasan

Theses and Dissertations

STEM persistence has been an important issue, especially in the context of underrepresented groups based on race and gender. Researchers in the last decade or so have been examining the powerful impact that affective and cognitive factors can exert individually on performance and persistence. It is only reasonable to hypothesize that combining affective and cognitive measures would offer a more thorough understanding of factors that impact students’ performance and STEM persistence. Evaluating these outcomes in the context of gateway courses is particularly essential due to the non-negligible percentage of students who drop out of these courses or decide to change …

Examining Predictors Of First Year College Student Retention, Kristyn Muller, Emily Feuer, Meghan Nyman, Karen Sokolowski, Leah Rotella

New York Journal of Student Affairs

The researchers developed a mixed-methods study to determine what characteristics of the student experience are associated with college student retention. The study used the College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ) as the primary tool to evaluate students’ likeliness to persist at their university and then conducted individual interviews with students to gain a greater understanding of their academic and social habits. The findings suggest that efforts to improve student retention must impact student experiences both in and out of the classroom.

Factors That Predict Persistence For Non-Immigrant, International Students At A Private, Four-Year University In Georgia, Shawn Adams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore factors that predict the persistence of international, non-immigrant students in higher education. A sample of international students from a four-year private university in Georgia served as the focused population for this study. Persistence research asserts that six factors predict persistence: academic integration, social integration, support services satisfaction, degree commitment, institutional commitment, and academic conscientiousness. These six predictor variables were measured via the College Persistence Questionnaire (CPQ). However, cultural intelligence (CQ) is another predictive factor that merited consideration for the unique population of international students. The Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) quantifies CQ and …

An Examination Of African American Male Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Success And Their Experiences At The Community College, Shashuna Jenean Gray

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this research is the perceptions of academic success held by African American male students attending a community college. Community colleges often serve as the gateway for unprepared, at-risk students. However, this group of students frequently fails to persist and matriculate even after six years of attendance. Understanding the perceptions of academic success within two defined groups of students, pre-enrollment and probationary, would allow community college leaders to efficiently allocate resources to ensure high levels of engagement within the college classroom.

Being Retained: Perspective Of The Online First-Year Composition Student, Catrina Marie Mitchum

English Theses & Dissertations

Keeping students in college classrooms can be a struggle, but keeping them in an online classroom is an even more difficult feat. While the field of retention research has expanded its focus beyond traditional four-year students to include a variety of non-traditional student situations, including online, it has yet to focus efforts on online first-year composition at the community college. The first-year of college has been shown to be the most critical in student retention at the institutional level, which puts first-year composition in a potentially influential position. The fact that fewer students are retained in online courses than face-to-face …

College Experiences Of The Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians, R. W. Lasher, Donald W. Good

ETSU Faculty Works

A survey was distributed to all enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian (EBCI) college students to compare the experiences of those attending Tribal and non-tribal colleges. The results of the survey provided data for a nonexperimental quantitative study that addressed 18 research questions in an effort to determine whether there is a significant difference between the educational experiences of EBCI college students who attend non-tribal institutions and those who attend Tribal colleges. In particular, there was a focus on three domains: student viewpoints on separation and alienation from their tribal community; tribal community connections; and individual perceptions …

Students’ Expectations And Faculty Approaches To Instructional Activities: Are Faculty Meeting The Needs Of This Generation?, Julie Ann Brines

Theses and Dissertations

Students who engage academically and socially with others on campus are more likely to stay at their institution and graduate, and the continued success of higher education institutions depends on the persistence of those students. An extensive body of literature for student retention and faculty teaching practices exists, but the present study focused on how student persistence may be affected by the interactions between students and faculty, especially when students and faculty were members of different generational cohorts. Investigating those interactions revealed there is a significant difference between students’ expectations and faculty approaches to instructional activities inside and outside the …

Education Master's Students' Perspectives On Leaving The Academy, Amybeth Glass

Theses and Dissertations

Graduate student attrition is arguably one of the most significant challenges facing the higher education community, and determining why master's students attrit is an important consideration for all universities. Despite the vast research on graduate education, little is known about master's student attrition. This dissertation explored why education master's students depart from one institution and provides recommendations for future practice. Key finding of the study indicate that financial, personal, and dissatisfaction with course content were reasons that influenced education master's student attrition.

In-depth qualitative interviews with 12 former students challenged the notion that attrition is intrinsic. Participants' points of view …

From Stopout To Scholar : Pathways To Graduation Through Adult Degree Completion Programs., Matt Bergman

Matt Bergman

Although colleges and universities are facing increased scrutiny to demonstrate a return on investment for their students, the demand for college-educated workers continues to grow. As of 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that more than one-fifth of Americans age 25 and older—around 43.5 million people—have some postsecondary education but no degree (Lumina, 2012). This article presents an integrative review of relevant, rigorous, and research based programs that create a fast path to degree completion for working adults. While national data still shows that postsecondary credentials remain a good investment for individuals and the overall economy (Carnavale & Rose, 2015), …

Transfer Student Success: Latinx Students Overcoming Challenges At Two- And Four-Year Institutions Towards Baccalaureate Degree Attainment, Ajani Mcarthur Byrd

Dissertations

As the largest post-secondary educational system, community colleges enroll nearly 35% of all college students (American Association for Community Colleges, 2014). However, the vast majority of students attending two-year institutions aspiring to vertically transfer (from community college to four-year institution), fall short of their academic goals and do not obtain a baccalaureate degree (Student Success Score Card, 2013). To this end, the extant literature has illustrated students of color, especially Latinx and African American students, transfer and graduate at disproportionately lower rates than their white counterparts. Qualitative researchers have explored this phenomenon; yet, often fall short of highlighting the specific …