The purposes of this case study were (1) to provide a descriptive profile of students served by Bainbridge Junior College, located in rural southwest Georgia, (2) to examine the retention of these students at the college, and (3) to investigate the persistence of these students in postsecondary education. Community colleges in general tend to have higher attrition rates than four-year institutions. / The study was implemented in three phases: (1) examination of a sample of 585 student permanent records at the college, (2) mailed survey to a sample of 293 former students, and (3) planned interviews with persons identified as atypical high persisters in postsecondary education. Three instruments were developed by the investigator. Responses in Phase II were received from 116 former students or 41.4 percent of the sample. No atypical high persisters were able to be contacted for an interview. / The dependent variables, retention and persistence, were viewed as (1) college degree awarded, or (2) number of hours completed. Statistical tests of 16 hypotheses at the .05 level of significance analyzing retention/persistence with various demographic, academic, motivational, and college environmental variables yielded the following results. In Phase I, statistically significant relationships were found between retention at the college and the following variables: age, county of residence, academic load, type of program, time interval since receiving a high school diploma, high school grades and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, and first-term college grades. The results were non-significant for the variables: sex, ethnic origin, and marital status. The findings in Phase II revealed statistically significant relationships between persistence in postsecondary education and the following variables: receipt of financial aid, socio-economic origin, parents' educational level, and positive student peer relationships. Non-significant findings were indicated for parental encouragement and non-classroom faculty interfaces. Phase III objectives were not able to be studied as only one person was identified as an atypical persister. Efforts to contact this person were not successful. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4315. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74610 |
| Contributors | BRYANT, GEORGIEANNA MARIE BARBER., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 243 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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