Student Retention Is A Growing Problem

The college drop-out and failure rate in North America is unacceptably high and it’s becoming a huge problem. In fact, US News reports that “30% of college freshmen drop out after their first year of college” (Bowler 2). There are quite a few reasons students drop out of College. Whether it’s having a child or working two jobs, it’s hard for most students to balance college and life. Some of the main causes of dropping out include nontraditional situations, mental issues such as stress or anxiety, and lack of self-knowledge.

For first year students coming straight from high school, college life can either be very exciting or overwhelming depending on how well one prepares for it. Some have the notion that college is fun and is all about partying, while some believe that it is an environment in which they can achieve the ultimate freedom thus escape the stringent rules made by their parents at home. Others look forward to experiencing a different learning environment while being exposed to different cultures and sharing different academic knowledge. Successful assimilation into college life is determined by the student’s capability to transform into the new role of a college student. Numerous students face challenges they have never experienced before which can

“First-generation” is a commonly known term, yet most people do not actually know the extent of being a student who is the first in their family to go to college. The majority of the general population assumes that in order to be considered first generation, a students’ parents must never have attended college before. However, this is not always the case. The University of Florida defines first-generation as students whose parents never earned a bachelor’s degree. Therefore, a student can be considered first generation if their parents have an associate’s degree. Regardless of the definition, a first-generation student’s major issue is staying enrolled in college.

The transition from high school to college is a notoriously daunting experience for students entering, arguably, the most important years in their lives. Everything that a student has come to know about academics, for the most part, are to be radically challenged. Many different factors go into the change, and any particular one can be enough to overwhelm any given student into becoming an emotional wreck. Whether it be living on one's own for the first time, drastic schedule changes, or becoming socially involved, these responsibilities are just three examples, among the seeming hundreds. However, a perfect balance between these responsibilities is a major key in not allowing the stressors to take one captive.

According to the National Association of School Psychologists (2003), each year, schools retain as many as 15% or more than 2.4 million American students. Other studies found that between 30% and 50% of all students experience retention at least once by the time they are freshman in high school (Robertson, 2001). For students in urban districts, the estimated retention rate is approximately 50%. The National Center for Education Statistics (2006), estimated that the number of students retained at least once in their school career ranged from 10% to 20%... Of those retained, black students experienced retention more than twice as much as white students, and boys twice as much as girls. The controversial practice of grade retention is a concern

The relevance to this study was important because it examines factors that cause withdrawals and my assist with increasing retention rates. The information collected is significant to all stakeholders who wish to retain minority students in higher education. Both public and private universities can stand to increase their knowledge base of how to improve higher education retention for minority students.

Vincent Tinto’s Student Integration Theory of Persistence was published in 1975. Since then, researchers in the field of psychology, sociology, and education applied and challenged his theory through subsequent research to graduation and retention programs in higher education. As Tinto considers specific individual indicators in persistence, one must vet the theory’s conclusions and its applicability to today’s highly diversified institutions, such as California State University, Northridge.

numerous authors, such as, Hu & Ma (2010), Lee & Choi (2011), Hu, McCormick, & Gonya (2012) have elaborated on the impact of how it contribute to the study of student retention. These authors concluded from their studies, that the Tinto’s Theory of Student Departure helped to enrich the understanding of student persistence in college. A mixed-method study by Morrow & Ackermann (2012) evaluated the importance of a sense of belonging and motivation in predicting intention to persist in college, and retention of students from their first to second year. One hundred and fifty-six

The public institution selected for this research project is a nonprofit, multi-campus and Georgia’s third-largest technical college based in Waco. The institution has an open admissions policy. It enrolls less than 7,000 students annually, in certificate, diploma, and associate degree programs. The highest degree offered at the institution is an associate degree. The student-faculty ratio is 18-to-1. The challenge for West Georgia Technical College (WGTC) is to design and implement effective retention strategies and programs for first-time students that monitor, encourage , and reward student retention using available resources and without burdening faculty and staff with cumbersome tracking and reporting procedures. While the limitations present an overwhelming task, the consequences of not solving the problem exceed any potential limitations. With these limitations in mind, the researcher’s task is to find a workable solution. First-year retention rates involving higher education undergraduates during the previous several years have improved marginally even with various improvement efforts (Barefoot, 2000; Tinto, 2004). Large numbers of first-year students are exiting college due to unsatisfactory academic skills, failures to adapt both socially and academically, in addition to having an inadequate commitment to the objective of finishing college (Ishler & Upcraft, 2005; Tinto, 1987).

The transition from high school to college is not only an exciting and challenging time, but also a great milestone in one’s life. There are several differences between the lives of high school and college students. Some individuals will be able to jump right in and adjust to this change seamlessly, while others may take years to adapt, or never even grab hold of the whole college experience at all. High school and College are both educational grounds for a student to grow and enrich their lives with knowledge. Both are like puzzle pieces: on one side they fit together, but on the other side they are something completely

Conclusion: In conclusion it is evident that student retention is dependent on the personal success of

This study seeks to develop a predictive model of college student dropout, using aggregate high school variables and individual postsecondary achievement variables to predict non-graduating students’ academic year of departure. After performing multiple linear regression and discriminant function analysis, the research found that a cohort of students admitted in the fall 2007 semester from several universities could be assigned an academic year of departure using data readily available by the end of a student’s third academic term. The university can use this model to predict student departure and improve the effectiveness of student retention efforts by focusing on targeted times when at-risk students are predicted to drop out.

     Grade retention, better known as “staying back”, “being held back” or “repeating”, has been the topic of much debate within the educational system. The controversy which surrounds this long-standing issue has been reinforced by such topics as the recent endorsement of academic standards. Research indicates that “the rate of retention has increased by approximately 40% in the last 20 years with as many as 15% of all American students held back each year and 30-50% held back at least once before ninth grade” (Dawson, 1998). These discouraging statistics pose copious problems within a school system. The difficulties can be appreciated at the organizational level, as well as inside the classroom and, most

The transition into college can be one of the most exciting times in a young adult’s life. They are starting a new chapter in their lives that may have a lasting effect on their future. Many new friendships will be made, along with countless amounts of changes in their life including new habitat, change in income, workload amounts, and

Nowadays, institutions of higher education are becoming more concerned about attrition and retention rates. While receiving a post-secondary education is becoming more popular, remaining at the same institution throughout the completion of the degree is becoming less popular. According to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (2005), 32% of first-year students who were enrolled full-time in the fall of 1999 did not return to the same institution the following fall. However, of the 32% of students who did not return to their previous institution, 40% of them enrolled at a different institution the following fall. This means that 13% of first-year students enrolled full-time end up dropping out of higher education as a whole. Many studies have been done to determine the many factors that influence whether or not a student will remain at the institution of their choice, whether they will transfer to another institution or just withdraw from college all together. While each individual’s choice depends on a number of different factors that are specific to his/her situation, researchers have been able to conclude which factors contribute more significantly to an individual leaving a college and