This study used a quasi-experimental design with 1,237 students to investigate the association between participation in a study-abroad program and persistence at a liberal arts university. The theoretical basis for the study was Tinto's Theory of Individual Departure. The independent variable of interest, also known as the treatment, was participation in the University of Dallas Rome Program during the sophomore year. The control group consisted of students who were qualified to participate in the Rome Program, but chose not to do so. The dependent variable was the number of fall and spring semesters enrolled as an undergraduate at the University of Dallas post-treatment through spring 2003. Nine variables that measured background characteristics, academic integration, and social integration explained 3.8% of the variation in number of semesters enrolled post-treatment. Participation in the Rome Program explained an additional 4.2%. In all of the statistical measures examined in this study (incremental increase in R2, b weights, adjusted β weights, and structure coefficients), there was evidence of an important positive association between participation in the Rome Program and persistence. Based on the b weight in the regression equation, holding all other variables constant, students who participated in the Rome Program persisted on average .83 semesters longer post-treatment at the University of Dallas than those who did not go to Rome. Of the 1,007 students in this study who went to Rome, 96% were enrolled at the University of Dallas one semester after Rome participation and 91% were still enrolled after two semesters. This compared to 80% and 72%, respectively, for the 230 students in the control group. Of the 674 students in the study who went to Rome and had the opportunity to graduate within 4 years, 79% graduated within 4 years. This compared to 51% for the 123 students in the control group. Persistence during and after the sophomore year was not associated to the same extent with pre-entry background characteristics, academic integration, and social integration as was persistence from freshman to sophomore year.

This study investigates two undergraduate curriculum programs at Bishop College in Dallas, in an effort to determine their effects upon selected groups of graduates, as measured in selected areas of their achievement before and after graduation. Conclusions of this study are as follows: 1. Neither curriculum program has attained a statistically significant degree of greater efficiency over the other in areas of students' undergraduate academic achievement, concepts of self and undergraduate academic experiences, and career involvement after graduation. 2. More stringent measurement than that of this study could possibly reveal that the Experimental Curriculum attained greater results to a statistically significant degree in more areas than did the Regular Curriculum. 3. Through achievement of a higher percentage of student retention, the Experimental Curriculum has attained greater effectiveness than the Regular Curriculum. 4. A need exists for increased relevancy of curriculum experiences to community problems. 5. A need exists for increased emphasis upon the student's development of effective self-expression and adequate self-confidence.

Proprietary colleges are uniquely different from two or four year colleges due to the emphasis on the student establishing a definite career path prior to enrollment. Because of this career track emphasis, Bandura's (1977) postulation that self-efficacy is a significant variable influencing task completion may offer insight into the challenge of student retention at a proprietary college. The study's purpose was to determine if career self-efficacy, demographic factors, and academic preparedness measures in first quarter students could predict student persistence, class attendance, and academic performance. The statistical technique of multinomial logistic regression was applied to data files of 725 first quarter students who attended The Art Institute of Dallas from Summer 1996 through Winter 1997. The predictor variables included a measure of career self-efficacy, ASSET scores (American College Testing Program, 1994), ethnicity, age, gender, full-time/part-time attendance, high school grade point average, parents' educational level, socioeconomic status, and developmental course placement. Criterion variables were completion, class attendance, and cumulative grade point average.

The purpose of this study was to determine how graduates of master's degree programs perceived the ethnic and cultural climate at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) during their enrollment there. The population (N=2,223) consisted of graduates of master's degree programs who attended Dallas Seminary from 1996-2005. The study utilized a non-experimental design methodology using a mailed survey questionnaire. A 37.2 % response rate was achieved. Most results were statistically significant at the .05 alpha level utilizing chi-square goodness-of-fit tests.