The purpose of this study is to make an investigation relating to certain factors and influences that have some bearing upon decisions made by graduating seniors in high schools to attend college or vocational school before entering a vocation or professional career.

Actual and projected changes in the federal appropriations for direct student assistance programs in the early days of the Reagan presidency as well as rising educational costs were expected to adversely affect the enrollment of continuing financial aid recipients. Previous literature in financial aid has documented the relationship between financial aid and decisions about college, particularly for minority and low income students applying for the first time to less selective colleges. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between changes in amount of financial aid and the reported enrollment plans of a sample of past need-based aid recipients. A survey was mailed to a random sample of 1,347 students who received financial assistance under Virginia's College Scholarship Assistance Program (CSAP) during 1981-82. Responses were received from 767 students. No significant differences between respondents and nonrespondents were determined. Analysis of the data collected through the survey instrument revealed that the vast majority of the respondents planned to continue at the same college (88.3%) and only a very small proportion planned to withdraw (4.1%) or transfer to another college (7.5%). Approximately 40 percent of the respondents lost more than $500 in aid between 1982-83 and the previous year. When the decision to continue or transfer was examined by selected individual and institutional characteristics and by change in amount of aid, the variables of race, grades, grade level, and institutional cost and selectivity explained a significant portion of enrollment behavior. Respondents attending low cost and nonselective institutions, minorities, freshmen, and those with lower grades were found to be more likely than average to change their enrollment plans by transferring. The addition of change in amount of financial aid received across two years had no statistical effect when added to the variables of race or grades and only a very slight effect in increasing the likelihood of changing plans for freshman and for respondents enrolled in nonselective, low cost institutions. Parental income was not found to be significantly associated with change in enrollment plan for dependent students. Little of the variation in enrollment plans was explained by change in the amount of financial aid received. Financial concerns appeared to weigh most significantly for those planning to continue at the same college. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to model the demand for higher education enrollments and to determine whether or not enrollments were price elastic among Virginia's public four-year institutions. The underlying intent was to check the feasibility of a human capital theory based methodology for examining the demand dependency of higher education institutions in Virginia. Price elasticity and other determinants of enrollments were observed across different institutional groupings to observe the differential effects of these factors given institutional type or individual institution characteristics. The analyses were based upon the investment approach to human capital theory as adapted to the study of educational demand. Accordingly, it was assumed that individuals will display a willingness to invest in themselves by enrolling in a college or university because they believe that such an investment will accrue both financial and psychological benefits. Multiple linear regression was used to model five sets of determinants across three levels of analysis: statewide, institutional type (major universities, prior normal schools, and urban institutions), and individual institutions. The direct cost of attendance, the size of the eligible population of prospective students, the educational attainment of the students' locale, and the rural nature of the students' environment generally were found to have significant effects on enrollment. Price, or the direct cost of attendance, was primarily negative and statistically significant for all types of institutions except the major universities and the one special purpose, military institute in the state. Several factors indicated that the location of the institution was important. In other words, students tended to enroll in nearby as opposed to distant institutions, while a geographically concentrated pool of institutions restricted the dependency of these same institutions on local student populations. A cross-sectional design was used in this study, therefore the resultant demand models were descriptive only of the time period covered in these analyses. Nevertheless, such research should be useful in assessing the impact on enrollments of selected demand factors and in determining the efficacy of the investment approach applied in this and similar research efforts. / Ph. D.

This study investigated the similarities between students who participated in the Career Interest Testing Groups at the Virginia Tech University Counseling Center and undecided students in general. Holland's Theory of Congruence was tested by examining the student's SCII and MBTI test results and doing a follow-up regarding achievement,persistence in school, changes of major and compatibility with final choice of major. The undecided students in this study resembled those in the literature on only two dimensions; having a low rate of graduation and a high incidence of personal problems. Holland“s Theory of Congruence did not hold up with this group. A scoring system, which indicated the degree of compatibility between the choices of major and test results, was used and indicated no movement toward greater congruence as the students changed majors. For those who did graduate in highly congruent majors, better grades did not result. The conclusion was that undecided students at a select admissions university represent the more academically able and mature individuals among undecided students in general. As the literature predicted, this group did have a high drop out rate. The findings regarding Holland's Theory of Congruence have been mixed and the theory did not hold in this investigation. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata

This study examined the relationship between selected student and institutional characteristics and the retention rates of first-time, degree seeking, full-time and parttime, freshman student cohorts in public community colleges in Florida. Based on data obtained from the Integrated Post-Secondary Data System on selected student and institutional variables for three years beginning fall 2005, 2006 and 2007, retention rates were analyzed for the years beginning fall 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. This quantitative non-experimental descriptive study relied on multiple regression to analyze aggregated data on eight predictor variables to determine their impact student retention rates. A moderating variable (institutional size) was used to determine its influence on the relationship between the predictor variables and the criterion variable. The results suggest that gender and age were positively related to student retention rate at the parttime level, academic support expenses were negatively related to student retention rates at the part-time and full-time levels, and institutional size moderated the relationship between certain predictor variables and retention rates at small institutions. / by Ancil DeLuz. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The purpose of this study was to examine the expectations of African American and Hispanic males in a for-profit university (TTU). This study specifically explored student perception of the retention efforts of faculty, staff, policies, procedures and services within the institutional environment. It further examined how these experiences promoted or impeded the African American or Hispanic male's persistence to graduation. The higher education institution is identified as TTU throughout this study. It is a commuter university established in the early 1900s. A qualitative case study approach was used and two campus sites were selected. Data collection included interviews of 19 students, along with 2 faculty (identified by students), as well as document analysis, and various on site observations at each campus. The data were then transcribed, coded, and analyzed to ascertain the overall views and perceptions of the participants. / by Carole Comarcho. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This quantitative study utilized secondary data from one large four-year, state university in the southwestern US. The relationship between registration time and academic performance was examined as well as the relationship between registration time and retention of first-time-in-college (FTIC) undergraduate students during their first semester of enrollment at the university. The differences between decided and undecided students were tested regarding students’ academic performance and retention of the same population. The study population for the fall 2011 semester included 6,739 freshmen, and the study population for the fall 2012 semester included 4,454 freshmen. Through multiple and logistic regression models, registration time was shown to statistically have a relationship with academic performance and retention (p < .05). Later registrants showed to have a negative relationship with GPA and were less likely to return the following spring semester. The explained variance (R2) for both measures of academic performance and retention along with descriptive statistics are also presented. A Mann Whitney U test and chi square test indicated that a statistically significant association between decided and undecided students exists for academic performance and retention (p < .05). Decided major students performed better as measured by semester GPA performance and were more likely to return the following spring semester. Recommendations and implications are issued regarding future research, policy, and practice.

This study investigated enrollment management practices found in higher education. The research identified enrollment management and retention practices described in the higher education literature. These suggested practices were incorporated into a sixty-six question survey that was distributed to a random sample of colleges and universities taken from the 1999 US News and World Report of college rankings. The survey data were used to identify which of the suggested enrollment management practices were of greatest utility. First, the sixty-six items were grouped into 14 categories of enrollment management strategies. Second, the institutional responses for each category were averaged and then correlated with each institution's graduation rate. Finally, each institution's "yes" responses for the entire survey were totaled and correlated with each institution's graduation rate. This study developed a list of the 26 most frequently used enrollment management practices in higher education, and as well, identified the 10 least used enrollment management practices. Given the results of this study graduation rate is not a sufficient criterion to assess enrollment management practices at a college or university. Enrollment management strategies contribute to many institutional and student outcomes; thus, multiple indicators are required to accurately evaluate enrollment management practices.

Over the past 6 years, the course retention rate for Marylhurst University's (MU) online courses was 91%, which is within four percentage points of its on-campus course retention rate (Schreck, 2002). This appears to contradict a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that stated, "Although there is significant variation among institutions with some reporting course-completion rates of more than 80% and others finding that fewer than 50% of distance-education students finish their courses, several administrators concur that course-completion rates are often 10-20 percentage points higher in traditional courses than in distance offerings" (Carr, 2000). Recent studies (Beatty-Gunter 2001; Crabtree, 2000; Cutler, 2000; Fox, 2000; Moore, Bartkovich, Fetzner, & Ison, 2002; Morrow, Woodyard, Mora, & Nather, 2001; Valdez, 2001) corroborate Carr's claim and were used to compare with MU results. This grounded theory, web-based, research study aims to explicate the reasons why MU online students complete courses at high rates and develop this understanding into an online student retention model. A grounded theory approach was used to conduct this study, which is described by Creswell (2002) as, "a systematic, qualitative procedure used to generate a theory that explains, at a broad conceptual level, a process, an action, or interaction about a substantive topic". The research process helped discover and shape the Online Course Retention Model (OCRM). The OCRM theorizes four major areas for inquiry into online course retention (Administration, Course, Student, and Teacher). Each major area of inquiry is divided into three variables of varying importance to online course retention. Perhaps the most profound discovery was not the major themes and supporting variables, but rather, the relationships between variables, and how these relationships explain the MU situation. The research concludes with an examination of possible "best practices" in online course retention, ideas for future research, and recommendations for implementation. Successful online course retention at Marylhurst University: Constructing a model for online course retention using grounded theory.

The relationship between FTE enrollments and state appropriations to public four-year colleges and universities is a fundamental issue basic to numerous institutional and state policy decisions. Yet, the relationship is obscure and may have changed during the period from 1965 to 1982. Data for this dissertation were obtained from three sources. Enrollment data were obtained from the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) information as edited and entered onto computer data tape by the Center for the study of Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of Arizona. Appropriations data were obtained from the annual issues of M. M. Chambers' Appropriations of State Tax Funds for Operating Expenses of Higher Education as edited and entered onto computer data tapes at the CSHE. Variations in the reporting of these sources were obtained through a mail survey instrument. Appropriations data were adjusted for inflation using the national and regional Consumer Price Indices (CPI). The appropriations data were corrected so that all states are reported consistently for (1) tuition, (2) employee benefits, and (3) capital equipment. The edited enrollment and the corrected appropriations data were then regressed for two time periods (1965-77 and 1977-82). The results determined the nature of change in the enrollment/appropriation relationship over time. The results show that there does appear to be a relationship between enrollments and appropriations which is stronger for certain types of institutions. Nationally, the relationship in mean constant dollar appropriations per FTE enrollments has not undergone any radical changes. However, the slopes of the regression lines have undergone statistically significant changes from period 1 (1965-66 to 1976-77) to period 2 (1977-78 to 1982-83). Yet the regression coefficients did not decline in a major way over time for the national sample, for institutions by Carnegie Classification System or by state. Wide ranges of difference were found to exist among states. However, a considerable majority of 35 states and most Carnegie classification institutions did not demonstrate a significant change in the amount of constant dollar or adjusted funding per FTE student over time.