As the United States moves from an industrial society to an informational society, the need for the skills and knowledge generally obtained from institutions of higher education is expanding. The graduation rate of an institution is often viewed by the public as an indication of the institution's ability to meet this need. / Community colleges serve a unique function in the Unites States' system of higher education. While providing a second chance for many individuals who otherwise would not be able to continue their education, this specific clientele tends to have low graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative importance of factors which have been shown to influence student attrition. The variables were extracted from two standard student record systems. / The statistical techniques used were logistic regression and Classification and Regression Trees (CART). The dependent variables were structured in two different ways. The first was based upon the length of follow-up and whether the students remained enrolled in the original institution or higher education. The second was a uniquely defined outcome based upon attendance. The results indicated a strong relationship between attrition and the following variables: age, grade point average, college prep classes, full-time/part-time status, type of high school diploma and employment. / The most important status variable was employment. Working full-time negated the advantages of working at all. Students working full-time were between two and three times more likely to drop out than students not working full-time. / The most important continuous variable was GPA. The standardized odds ratios for the dichotomous outcomes indicated the chances of remaining enrolled increased by a factor of 1.30 to 1.40 per standard deviation increase. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: A, page: 0846. / Major Professor: F. Craig Johnson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77151 |
| Contributors | Windham, Patricia Wood., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 260 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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