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Short-to-medium projections were made of student semester credit hour enrollments for North Texas State University and the Texas Public and Senior Colleges and Universities (as defined by the Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System). Undergraduate, Graduate, Doctorate, Total, Education, Liberal Arts, and Business enrollments were projected. Fall + Spring, Fall, Summer I + Summer II, Summer I were time periods for which projections were made. A new regression analysis called "cycle regression" which employs nonlinear regression techniques to extract multifrequential phenomena from time-series data was employed for the analysis of the enrollment data. The heuristic steps employed in cycle regression analysis are similar to those used in fitting polynomial models. A trend line and one or more sin waves (cycles) are simultaneously estimated using a partial F test. The process of adding cycle(s) to the model continues until no more significant terms can be estimated.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the relationship between student persistence and financial aid through a meta-analysis of existing empirical research. The significance of the study was that financial aid policy would be enhanced if the facts regarding the relationship were clearly known. The meta-analysis assessed forty-nine studies, representing seventy samples. Studies were organized into two categories: (1) studies that compared financial aid recipients to nonrecipients and (2) studies that examined persistence differences among financial aid recipients. Studies were integrated by converting each study result into the common metric of effect size. The meta-analysis results were reported in average unweighted and weighted effect sizes. In the latter case results were weighted by the number in the treatment group. Average effect sizes were interpreted by (1) absolute magnitude of effect sizes, (2) graphic representation, and (3) an elasticity measure. The meta-analysis examining the total sample found financial aid to have a small, but significant, positive effect on student persistence, thereby enabling lower income students to persist at a rate roughly equal to that of middle and upper income students. The average unweighted and weighted effect sizes of the total sample were +.13 and +.06, respectively. The length of persistence measured, the type of institution attended, and whether studies controlled for academic ability were found to be mediators influencing the magnitude and direction of the effect size. When results of studies that examined persistence differences among financial aid recipients were integrated, the following conclusions were reached: (1) there was little difference in the persistence of males and females, (2) minority students persisted significantly less than white students, and (3) the amount of financial aid had a significant positive effect on persistence. When forms of financial aid were analyzed, although the effect sizes were reasonably small and the differences in effect sizes among forms were minimal, combinations of aid were determined to be more effective than single forms. This finding probably reflects more the amount of financial aid than the form of financial aid.

The study determined the overall persistence rate of first-time full-time entrants into a mid-sized private university during the fall semesters 1989 to 1991 to the 2nd year (1990 to 1992). The study compared the retention rate of recipients and nonrecipients of a variety of financial aid programs. Included is a comparison of groups receiving various types of financial assistance and whether or not there are differences between the groups with respect to types of assistance, gender, ethnicity (African American, Hispanic, Anglo), high school grade point average, and national test scores (SAT, ACT). The types of assistance studied were categorized by academic scholarships, university-operated student employment, need-based grants, activity awards, entitlements, and loans. The question of whether renewal, elimination, or reduction in assistance relates to retention was also studied.

Over one third of students in the U.S. who started college in 2012 did not enroll in the fall immediately following their high school graduation. Despite the prevalence of delayed college enrollment, however, little is known about the reasons for the delay and the consequences for academic and labor markets outcomes. Conventional human capital theory suggests that formal education should precede work in order to maximize the period of benefiting from the returns of investment in education. As such, the reasons for students delaying their college enrollment are still unclear. Usually, it has been perceived either as an irrational behavior, or a constrained behavior caused by the imperfect market. The first chapter of this dissertation provides an overview of the studies that explain the phenomenon of delay, and I conclude that financial constraint is not the only explanation. Students might rationally adjust the timing of enrollment to maximize their welfare, based on their personal capabilities, preferences, and economic conditions. Factors such as behavioral bias and sociological constraints also influence students’ educational decisions. Based on the theoretical framework proposed in the first chapter, it is predominantly believed that college enrollment could be countercyclical, especially for students who are financially constrained. The second chapter takes advantage of a natural experiment and discovers one of the factors that causes college enrollment delay: the housing market boom. I use the Education Longitudinal Survey: 2002 and the Building Permit Survey to estimate the effect of local housing market booms on college enrollment timing. I find that an additional 100 increase in the annual change of building permits leads to 0.24 percentage-point increase in enrollment delay for male high school graduates. However, the temporary delay in transition to college that is caused by a housing boom does not necessarily decrease the college enrollment rate eight years, but it makes returners less likely to enroll in four-year colleges. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, the third chapter of this dissertation examines the characteristics and earnings trajectories of delayers and the effects of this choice on academic and labor market outcomes. Propensity score matching results show that delaying college enrollment decreases individuals’ likelihood of enrolling in college, and increases their tendency to enroll in two-year colleges if they return to school. The results also demonstrate that, consistent with the study’s descriptive results, the early earnings benefits that are experienced by delayers diminish after their mid-20s and turn to significant losses over time. Oaxaca decomposition results indicate that differences in student characteristics only explain one third of the pay gap between the two groups; 60% of the pay gap is explained by delayers’ reduced likelihood of attending and obtaining a degree at a four-year college.

The current study sought to examine the factors that influence the decisions of lll Appalachian high school students regarding college attendance. Using Bronfenbrenner' s ecological systems theory of human development (1986) as a theoretical basis, direct and indirect influences of environmental factors upon the academic aspirations of Appalachian youth were examined using survey methodology. Results indicated that predictors of college attendance for Appalachian students are not significantly different from those of students elsewhere. Variables reflective of individual academic preparation were most salient in predicting college aspirations for both males and females. Other important predictors included parent education, parent occupation, and socioeconomic status. Several analyses suggested that family and peer influences may be more salient for male students than female students. Implications of the results for educators and clinicians working with Appalachian youth were discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the intellectual factors involved and the basic skill levels necessary for high risk students to experience success in college. The subjects were 60 full-time college freshmen enrolled in a special program for high risk students at Ball State University during the 1978-79 school year.The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was administered to subjects that were selected by a stratified random sample technique from a group of 342 full-time students identified as high risk students. Academic success was based solely upon grade point average.Pearson Product Moment Correlations were computed between grades and the WWAIS test scores for males, females and the total group. The scores which reached significance for the total group (after two quarters of attendance) were Information, Comprehension, Vocabulary, and the Verbal IQ. These results were consistent with earlier studies which indicated that verbal comprehension skills are of primary importance in predicting academic success in college with regular college students.Sex differences were apparent as significant correlations were found between grades and the Information and Vocabulary subtests for females but not for males. Significant correlations were found between grades and the Comprehension, Similarities, Picture Completion, Verbal IQ and Full Scale IQ scores for males but not for females.Partial correlations with grades were computed for the WAIS results with the effects of the traditional measures of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Verbal and Mathematics Sections and high school rank held constant. Information and Vocabulary WAIS subtest scores yielded significant partial correlations with grades for the total group. The Information subtest yielded a significant partial correlation with grades for females while the Comprehension subtest provided a significant partial correlation with grades for males.Multiple correlations using all of the WAIS results did not reach significance for either males, females, or the total group when compared to grade point averages. Multiple correlations using the total WAIS results and the traditional measures did not reach significance for the total group or for females when compared to grades. The multiple correlation using total WAIS results and the traditional measures did reach significance for males. The total WAIS results did not add significantly to the predictive information provided by the traditional measures for either males, females, or the total group.The conclusion of the study was that portions of the WAIS could be useful in evaluating the chances of success for high risk students enrolled in a special program. Subtests which measure verbal comprehension provide the highest relationship with academic success. Also,ability to predict success with the WAIS can be enhanced if sex differences are taken into consideration.

Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-112).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.