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M. Tech. Business Information Systems / Improving throughput rates is a key challenge facing South African higher education. Throughput rate is the number of students that can be produced over a period of time such as a semester or a year. Low throughput rates have a huge impact in funding higher education, because it determines how much funding organisations should invest in sponsoring students. Problems caused by low throughput rates include overcrowding of students in class, withdrawal of funding by funding organisations, reduction in the workforce of the country and poverty. The major objective of this study was to investigate the Business Intelligence (BI) components of the Integrated Tertiary Software (ITS), how it is used by universities to improve throughput rate.

This study compares certain factors of Austin College financial aid recipients to the same factors in their classmates who received no financial assistance. First, this study attempts to determine whether there are significant differences in selected variables between these two groups. Second, the study seeks to identify the causes for students' withdrawing from the College. Subjects were randomly selected from two groups: (l) 100 subjects receiving financial assistance; and (2) 100 subjects not receiving such assistance. The sources of data for this study were students'. records located in the Educational Advising Center, the Records Office, and the. Counseling Center.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a peer-taught freshman seminar course on the grade point averages and retention rates of freshman students. Freshman students who entered the University of Texas at Arlington in the fall 1989 and fall 1990 semesters and enrolled in the voluntary 1 credit hour course "College Adjustment" were matched with freshman students who did not enroll in the course. Matched pairs were formed based on orientation attendance, college major, gender, and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. For both years, the Freshman Seminar Group was similar to the group of All Other Freshman Students regarding the following characteristics: college major, age, gender, ethnicity, SAT scores, and number of first semester hours completed. Analysis of variance was used to determine if statistically significant (p < .05) differences existed between the first semester and first year grade point averages for the Freshman Seminar Group and Freshman Seminar Matches. Chi-square analysis was employed to determine if statistically significant (p < .05) differences existed between the second semester and sophomore year retention rates for the Freshman Seminar Group and Freshman Seminar Matches. The freshman seminar course was more beneficial to African American students, as evidenced by statistically significant first year grade point averages and sophomore year retention rates. Males who enrolled in the freshman seminar course appeared to benefit more than males who did not enroll in the course, as shown by statistically significant sophomore year retention rates. Students with low SAT scores appeared to benefit from the freshman seminar course, as evidenced by statistically significant second semester and sophomore year retention rates.

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.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Educational systems have experienced a paradigm shift in the 21st century worldwide, and Africa has not been left out. Let alone South Africa which is currently amongst Africa’s top technologically developed countries in Africa. Like in many other countries, the higher education sector in South Africa is a unique and super- complex system, because in addition to the universal change driving forces affecting it, a different impetus for change exists (Mapesela & Hay, 2006:77). Higher education institution models for delivering education are changing to meet new realities from a focus on providers and inputs to students and results. Reformation is no longer confined to the classroom, but has extended to South African public systems and their role in supporting change, advancing efficiency and effectiveness and in building networks capable of meeting students’ needs and supporting institutions at large. The retention of students can have a big financial advantage for the private higher educational institutions in South Africa, hence it has become important for educational institutions to build relationships with their students. The question of which factors influence customer retention and customer loyalty, presents itself. This study identified the antecedents to customer loyalty through the literature review which could possibly influence customer loyalty. This study focuses on the student experiences and satisfaction at the Milpark Business School in Johannesburg by analysing a number of factors that are assumed to impact these areas namely product experiences, moments of truth, peace of mind and outcome focus. The entry of ‘private’ providers of higher education coupled with declining government funding to public institutions is a response to the increasing demand for higher education that has caused a decline in the quality of graduates (Bunoti, 2011:1-2). Such concerns of student outcomes in private higher learning institutions have generated an interest of study to determine their experiences and consequently, their satisfaction. Milpark Business School is one of the private Higher Education Institutions in South Africa providing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree programme through distance learning and its entry requirements, processes, duration and study environments contribute immensely to student outcome. This study follows a descriptive research design. Literature concerning customer loyalty and the antecedents identified will be provided. The study makes use of a sample, which consists of students who are currently registered at Milpark Business School on the BBA Programme. A self-administered questionnaire was designed based on the theoretical literature provided within the study. The questionnaire measured several constructs which were identified through the literature review. The questionnaire made use of a set of statements relating to the theory, and a 5-point Likert scale that allowed respondents to select from five options ranging between strongly agree to strongly disagree. Various statistical analysis procedures were used to accomplish the objectives of the study, including factor analysis, and multiple and sideways regression techniques. The conclusion and findings of the study were found to support the objectives of the study and the results of the statistical analysis were found to accept the hypotheses of the study. The main conclusion and findings are that, although students are satisfied with regard to their interaction with and service provided by Milpark, improvements need to be made in terms of personal attention given to the students, especially by support staff. In particular, the handling of queries by support staff and lecturers needs to be improved in order to give speedy responses to the student in order to retain the student for the future. It is also clear that student satisfaction at Milpark Business School is influenced by the four antecedents namely product experience, outcome focus, moment of truth and peace of mind. Various recommendations for improving customer satisfaction were given, based on the findings of the statistical analysis. The empirical results indicate that all four independent variables significantly influence customer satisfaction, hence, all four variables are equally important to Milpark Business School, and the business needs to ensure that all these variables are correctly managed in order to improve customer satisfaction. Through this study it has become evident that there are various measures that could be implemented by Milpark Business School to improve customer satisfaction and ensure high levels of student retention. The study only investigated customer satisfaction at Milpark Business School, and therefore could not be generalised to other business schools. A study may need to be conducted on a number of such schools in future in order to get more information.

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.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Family Studies and Social Work, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-36).

The present thesis is an investigation into the impact and role of formal peer mentoring programmes as retention and enrichment strategies within UK Higher Education. Reviews of the literature highlighted several limitations within the empirical evidence for benefits of mentoring schemes. This thesis systematically evaluated the availability and impact of peer mentoring schemes within UK Higher Education. Firstly, a new measure of wellbeing was constructed and validated in student samples. A UK wide survey of 94 Universities supported the notion of increasing popularity of formal peer mentoring schemes and demonstrated the perceived benefits of peer mentoring as a retention strategy. Employing a theoretically driven longitudinal methodology a controlled comparison between first year students’ attending a UK university with a peer mentoring scheme versus a university without a peer mentoring scheme further substantiated the benefits of peer mentoring. Those within the peer mentoring university were three times less likely to think of dropping out of university, were coping better with the transition to university and were better adapted to university life: an important predictor in intention to leave. The relationship between peer mentoring and intention to leave was mediated by integration in university as proposed by Jacobi (1991). In support of the ‘buffering’ hypothesis existence of peer mentors moderated the relationship between predicted changes in social support, affect and self esteem during the transition to university. Within the fourth research study of first year students at a Scottish university; attitudes towards the introduction of a peer mentoring scheme within a university without such a scheme was investigated. Results indicated a positive perception of mentoring, with no student stating that they would not seek advice from a peer mentor if one was available. Although individuals who were experiencing greater levels of stress and homesickness were more likely to indicate they would use a peer mentor demographic variables did not differentiate between individuals who wanted peer mentors and those who felt less need. The most important attributes of a peer mentor for this sample of 158 first year students were commitment to the scheme and listening skills. Finally the impact of formal peer mentoring schemes within Higher Education was assessed from the perspective of the mentor, employing a qualitative (focus group) methodology at a university with an established peer mentoring scheme. Multiple benefits were indicated including personal, emotional, and academic advantages of becoming a mentor. All of the mentors within this study highlighted numerous motives for becoming a mentor although most important was their own previous experience (negative and positive) of the peer mentoring scheme. The results of each study are discussed in line with previous literature, limitations of the research and suggestions for future research. This thesis concludes that formal peer mentoring schemes can have a positive impact on the mentees, mentors and institutions involved and specifies nine recommendations for policy and practice.