Attending College Is A Major Accomplishment For Many Students.

The writers of “First-Year Seminars Increase Persistence and Retention: A Summary of the Evidence from How College Affects Student” believe that first-year seminars improve the academic performance of college students across the nation. According to the summary, the main goal of the seminars is to increase the performance of the students in academic fields as well as social and to increase the number of students who get

I selected the article, Supporting Adult-Student Persistence in Community Colleges written by Rosemary Capps. In this article Capps investigates adult-student persistence at a community college from the perspective of the student. The article analyzes institutional factors that influence adult-student persistence and discusses the impact. Non-traditional adult-students have different motivations and goals, as well as barriers that most traditional students do not encounter. Non-traditional adult-students, require more planning and lifestyle modifications than traditional students. Adult-students may have families or spouses, full-time jobs, and debts they are responsible for.

Many colleges and universities throughout the United States and several other countries face a common problem. Student retention is a growing problem across the nation for all ethnic groups and all ages. Each individual who chooses to drop out of school has their own personal reasons as to why they do. However, many drops out can be completely avoided. When students drop out they are not clearly thinking about how it’s going to affect their future, the future of their children and even grandchildren. Although there are several reasons as to why students drop out of school, we will be exploring a few as it relates to why student retention is a growing problem.

Coming to college as an adult, we have many expectations and preconceptions of what college will or will not be. The expectations we have can influence our college life for the better or the worse. My experience since starting college has been an interesting one. People have misconceptions about college because they do not know what to expect. After doing some research, I have concluded that there are three major factors that are often misunderstood about college life. The first is the financial aspect of college. Second, is the relationship between the professors and students. Third is time management. These three factors play an important role in why people are afraid to go down the path to college.

One of the key components in higher education enrollment management in a public, four-year university is the admissions process. With encouragement from many sources such as friends, family, and college marketing materials, high school juniors and seniors apply and enroll in college by the thousands each year (McDonough, 1994). College choice is greater now than twenty years ago, but finding the right fit for each potential student is harder due to increased college entrance standards and intense competition between institutions. Applicants now are more likely to apply to many more institutions than previous generations, yet still only attend

First generation college students remains to be a challenge for the community college system as well as the university system (Ward, Seigel, & Davenport, 2012). The challenges extend from their lack of academic study skill practices to their lack of socialization skills (Ward, Seigel & Davenport, 2012).

In recent times Clayton State has had trouble in graduation rates, many people do not continue their education at Clayton State. In order to solve this situation my group creates a primary goal on how we can improve retention, and make students want to stay and graduate. We first establish our primary goal, this goal is a way for us to establish the criteria and come up with our overall solution. Our goal was to increase the graduation rate by wanting people to stay at CSU, and attract new comers to want to continue their education at CSU.

Regardless of the type of institution, retention is one of the biggest issues that colleges encounter with the Hispanic/Latino population. The question has been posed for quite some time: What can colleges do to, not only keep these students on campus, but also to prepare them for the challenges they may face when transferring to a four-year school? Various programs on college campuses across the state of California have been implemented in the past couple of decades to help address this question. The existence of such programs, like Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), contribute to the academic success of the

Freshman year, the year of many first; the first time living away from home, the first time being away from friends, the first time a student has control of their own learning. Freshman year requires a lot of discipline, but a lot of students do not possess this trait. The factors that contribute to the success of first year college students are social support, comfort within the college environment, self control,responsibiliy and positive self concept.

Yorke, M., & Longden, B. (2004). Retention and student success in higher education. Berkshire, England: Open University

One of the biggest movements that is beginning to be implemented in many college campuses is that of the First Year Experience (FYE) program. Orientation can go only so far in making these first year students feel connected. Many institutions now build into the curriculum first-year seminars or other programs that bring small groups of students together with faculty or staff on a regular basis. These programs bring together aspects of both the academic and student affairs worlds. First Year Experience programs vary from campus to campus, but many of the characteristics that each share are tied to the common goal of helping those new freshmen feel at home and better adjusted to the expectations that are associated with being a college student.

Change is inevitable for education; subsequently, educational institutions are becoming more competitive, which is why there is a need for developing a retention program. Educational institutions are competing for innovation, funds, and students; therefore, they are offering programs that will provide the best and most beneficial student experiences that should include access to programs that will increase retention.

Although many people will have different opinions on how to achieve personal success in college and consequently increase student retention, there are effective strategies that are proven to aid in achieving these goals.

Upon identifying programs available on various college campuses as they relate to first year students; it has become noticeable that university leaders are concerned with the retention of students within their first and second year of college. Therefore many universities have developed programs that are focused on the success of the freshman student and ensuring that group of students’ matriculations throughout their degree programs. As quoted in “The Dynamics of Organization in Higher Education (Kuh, 1996) “the frequent and increasingly predictable accusation that institutions of higher education operate in “silos” is based on their various schools, colleges, and athletic programs operating in parallel with one another, more focused on promoting than on adhering to or accomplishing broader institutional

Though there has been limited research on the result of individual practices of institutions, the effects of first year protocols have been called into question. Scholars have hypothesized that attendance policies, required seminars, academic advising, and the methods used by professors to both teach and grade all are related to the retention rate of first year students. Though many