The composition of the population of undergraduate students in the U. S. has changed dramatically in recent years. A number of factors including societal transformations, a changing economy and demographic trends of the past decade have had particular impact. The cohort of students over age 30 is now the fastest growing segment of students who are entering or returning to colleges and universities. At this age the mature student is generally well established in work, community and family. While much of the research has focused on individual student needs, it has failed to investigate family and education interactions among older married reentry students. This is despite the reality that family concerns are often cited as the primary reason a reentry student withdraws from school. In this study, stepwise multiple regression was used to determine the extent to which gender, demographic background, and family issues explain the variance in reentry student perception of reentry student problems. This analysis yielded results which support the thesis that regardless of the student's gender, family problems are the strongest predicator of reentry student problems. Implications from this study may provide invaluable information to counselors, student service professionals, administrators, educators, and other professionals who work with reentry students and their families. This information can help to dispel myths and to aid reentry student and family adjustments. / Master of Science

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) provided a theoretical framework for the present study. Students’ beliefs in their abilities to perform academic tasks (i.e., academic self-efficacy; Solberg, O’Brien, Villarreal, Kennell, & Davis, 1993) and to make career-related decisions (i.e., career decision self-efficacy; Betz & Taylor, 2001) are influential in their completion of college. College students with limited financial resources and those who do not have a family member in an older generation who graduated from college may not experience the same degree of efficacy as those students with greater financial resources or a college graduate role model in their families (Horn & Nuñez, 2000; Oliver, Rodriguez, & Mickleson, 1985; Wohlgemuth et al., 2006-2007). The present study tested two hypotheses: 1) First-generation college students will express lower levels of academic self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy than continuing-generation college students; and 2) College students with high financial stress will express lower levels of academic self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy than those with low financial stress. A 2 x 3 factorial multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. Significant results of the MANOVA were explored using descriptive discriminant function analysis. Three post-hoc analyses were also completed. The results revealed no significant differences on levels of academic or career decision self-efficacy based on generational status, however, differences in both forms of self-efficacy were found based on financial stress. Strengths and limitations, implications for theory and counseling, and directions for future research are discussed. Consistent with SCCT, the salient factor of financial stress has an influence on college students’ academic self-efficacy and career decision self-efficacy. Contrary to much of the past research, one’s generational status does not have an influence on these two variables. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1956 J68 / Master of Science

This study was designed to investigate the effects of Relaxation, Positive Suggestion and Success Imagery (RSI) on locus of control and scores on teacher-made exams in an undergraduate college population. As well as to investigate interactions between locus of control and the exam scores. The sample, composed of 52 females and 2 males ranging in age from 18-47, confirmed previous findings that women in college do not show an interaction between locus of control and grades. Furthermore, RSI did not appear to significantly change locus of control or exam scores for the whole sample. However, the data suggests RSI to effectively change locus of control and grades with the younger aged students, inferring that an internal locus of control is easier to develop and grades are easier to influence in younger students with this procedure.

The purpose of this study was to understand how self-concept, including physical, social, and emotional factors, translates to perceived academic success for women in the college environment. The researcher hypothesized as positive self-concept increases, academic success also increases. Data were analyzed with regards to the experience of these women as it relates to their gendered experience. Quantitative analysis of 46 women at one Midwestern university provided a variety of data about the relationships of perceived academic success, in the form of reported GPA and academic performance, to self-esteem, body esteem, social environment, expectation scales. While most tests did not produce significant results (p < 0.05, two-tailed test), perceived academic performance compared to reported GPA and expectations compared to academic performance were significant. However, women still struggle with having positive self-concept in the college environment. Many respondents expressed concerns about physical appearance and acceptance from their peer group. These women are combating these negative feelings on a daily basis as they attend class and work to be academically successful. Further research about self-concept and academic success should be conducted at an all-women’s institution. This additional layer of research would be used to quantitatively compare the two populations and would provide a more accurate picture of the experience of women in higher education. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine the financial nexus between college choice and persistence for full-time, first-time, first-year freshman college students. The theoretical framework of this study was the financial nexus construct developed by St. John, Paulsen, and Starkey (1996) and Paulsen and St. John (1997). This is the first study to apply the financial nexus construct to full-time, first-time, first-year freshman population; the first to examine baccalaureate/comprehensive and doctoral/research institutions in both public and private sectors separately. The results of this study found that (1) overall, it is slightly evident that there is a financial nexus between college choice and persistence among full-time, first-time, first-year freshman students; (2) the nexus between college choice and persistence may be different by the Carnegie Classification, and (3) the pattern of the direct effects of financial variables (i.e., tuition and financial aid) on persistence was different from the previous results. Unlike in the previous studies, tuition increases appeared to have a positive effect on the enrollment of full-time, first-time, first-year freshman students attending institutions of all Carnegie Classifications. The result suggests that price may reveal a "quality effect" and that higher tuition institution may signal higher quality. In both public and private institution students, students of comprehensive/baccalaureate institutions were more sensitive to tuition than those of research/doctoral institution. This result may raise fundamental questions about the tuition price responsiveness of full-time, first-time, first-year freshman students. The results indicate that public students were more sensitive to grants than private students. Also, students attending comprehensive/ baccalaureate institutions were more sensitive to grants than those of research/doctoral institutions in both sectors.

The purpose of this study is determine whether increased knowledge of social conduct is accompanied by the personal and social adjustment of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors; then to compare the adjustment progress of the college groups.

The purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to determine whether students of either sex, or of any particular college class or subject matter major, make greater adjustment progress than students of the opposite sex, or of another college class or major field; and (2) to study the influence of these factors on the adjustment of college students of social fundamentals.

M.A. (Counselling Psychology) / A correlation between academic achievement and academic self-concept has been well established during past studies. Academic self-concept may be influenced by the experience of academic stress, especially academic expectancy stress which is stress derived from the expectations of the self and significant others. With debilitating effects that academic expectancy stress may have on students, interventions need to be put in place to assist students in coping with the workload and also to protect their academic self-concept. The use of humour in an educational setting has been shown to be successful in assisting students in performing well academically. Different humour styles may, however, play a role in the relationship between academic expectancy stress and academic self-concept. This study focused on humour styles (self-enhancing, affiliative, self-defeating and aggressive humour styles) as moderators in the relationship between academic expectancy stress and academic self-concept. The sample of this study consisted of 976 undergraduate students from the University of Johannesburg. The Humour Styles Questionnaire, Academic Expectations Stress Inventory and the Academic Self-concept Scale were used to gather data. A correlational analysis was initially done to determine the relationships between the variables and to check for multicollinearity. Next, a moderated multiple regression analysis was done to determine if the four humour styles moderate the relationship between academic expectancy stress and academic self-concept ...