The Role Of External Factors That Affect Student Perceptions, Obligations, And Preferences Essay

The purpose of Guiffrida’s (2006) paper is to provide empirical research evidences to support Tinto’s (1993) theory of student departure and highlighted the limitation of the theory by recognizing its failure to incorporate the study of psychological and cultural variables; therefore, it becomes incomplete and inappropriate when applying the theory to deal with minority students.

Thus, investigating what caused minority students to persist in college beyond their freshmen year provided answers as to how the selected universities

numerous authors, such as, Hu & Ma (2010), Lee & Choi (2011), Hu, McCormick, & Gonya (2012) have elaborated on the impact of how it contribute to the study of student retention. These authors concluded from their studies, that the Tinto’s Theory of Student Departure helped to enrich the understanding of student persistence in college. A mixed-method study by Morrow & Ackermann (2012) evaluated the importance of a sense of belonging and motivation in predicting intention to persist in college, and retention of students from their first to second year. One hundred and fifty-six

College seeking students are facing a hard reality. They may not be able to attend the school they most desire if they can not get a good scholarship, or they will need to choose a school less desirable because it is among the few they can afford. This proves to be a serious problem, limiting student’s decisions by limiting their choices. Students might choose to attend an expensive school of their choosing and find that they do not have the funds to pay the tuition and then are forced to leave the school. Such situations are evident at Norwich by data provided by the Department of Education, an interesting statistic to note is that the retention rate at Norwich University is 77% (National Center for Education Statistics). This means every new school year Norwich only holds about 77% of the students it had the prior year. However, not all of the

The authors in this article looked at many factors that lead to retention in the United Sates. The authors look at environmental factors and socioeconomic factors that have caused high retention rates in our schools. These authors broke down the rates by looking to see if boys or girls are more prone to being retained more. They broke the data down by race and location. It was described that students from low income homes have a higher chance to produce to retention. It was also discussed that policy changes at the local, state and national level can have an effect on these numbers. The article also mentions how a student’s persistence towards self-empowerment and the completion of their academic goals was a strong factor according to the article.

Of those 265 participants (male, 44.2%; female, 55.8%), 153 students were White/Caucasian (57.7%), 63 students were Black/African-American (23.8%), 11 students were Latino/Hispanic (4.2%), 18 students were Asian (6.8%), and 20 were multiracial (7.5 %). Nearly a quarter of participants identified as first generation college students (22.6%). Participants’ mean GPA in high school was 3.79 (SD =

The public institution selected for this research project is a nonprofit, multi-campus and Georgia’s third-largest technical college based in Waco. The institution has an open admissions policy. It enrolls less than 7,000 students annually, in certificate, diploma, and associate degree programs. The highest degree offered at the institution is an associate degree. The student-faculty ratio is 18-to-1. The challenge for West Georgia Technical College (WGTC) is to design and implement effective retention strategies and programs for first-time students that monitor, encourage , and reward student retention using available resources and without burdening faculty and staff with cumbersome tracking and reporting procedures. While the limitations present an overwhelming task, the consequences of not solving the problem exceed any potential limitations. With these limitations in mind, the researcher’s task is to find a workable solution. First-year retention rates involving higher education undergraduates during the previous several years have improved marginally even with various improvement efforts (Barefoot, 2000; Tinto, 2004). Large numbers of first-year students are exiting college due to unsatisfactory academic skills, failures to adapt both socially and academically, in addition to having an inadequate commitment to the objective of finishing college (Ishler & Upcraft, 2005; Tinto, 1987).

A group was formed to determine root causes and develop a plan of action to reduce the number of students that are retained each year and help those that have been retained to get back on track. A consensus was reached that a lack of motivation was the underlying cause for students’ poor classroom performance and resulting retention. After brainstorming and evaluating options, the group decided to implement a mentoring program in which faculty and staff members that did not teach the retained students would meet with them periodically to build relationships and encourage them.

Retention data over the past six to seven years is used to predict the type of student who may be at risk of attrition in the incoming freshman class. Of the predicted at risk population, students are paired with an individual who reaches out to them within the first two weeks of classes. The “mentor”

Student retention is an issue that has been plaguing college and universities for a very long time. Retention of students in higher education in itself has many facets some of which follow a positive order such as when students go from a two year institution to a four year institution and a negative when students just drop out of school. Either event can cause an economic disruption unless this is something that is expected or planned for. Institution with formula funding is very sensitive to such swing in student demographics. While not desirable it is a fact that some institution have grown to accept.

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.

where specialists help them to develop self-knowledge. Retention specialists are qualified professionals whose job have a very significant effect on a student’s success. For instance, in an interview Skyline College Retention Specialist Raymond Gutierrez states, “My job is to help students stay focus, get resources and help them navigate college, teaching to track their own progress toward education and personal.” The retention program in Skyline college comprises many services to help students, Gutierrez’s strategy is encouragement, motivation and with “honest and positive feedback” because for many students college is hard and some does not believe they can continue, so he reminds them their effort will bring progress. Also, he helps them to evolve self-knowledge asking a key questions that request the students to think and give sincere answers. Gutierrez follows the student's progress by semesters, promotes the attendance to his program at early time visiting the classrooms periodically. Whereas retention specialists maintain students focus working in their courses, students also build confidence, improve their grades and academic skills; giving to themselves the opportunity to stay in school and overcome their challenges. Daley point outs, “When students do have self-knowledge, they become self-directed; they

Hispanic student’s achieving academic success is the paramount goal of our organization. Therefore, evaluation of the programs served is imperative in order to provide these minority students and their parents exceptional services. By providing effective, organized and sustainable programs, our organization will edge closer to achieving its goal of bridging the achievement gap in all academic subjects for Hispanic students, increasing the number of Hispanic students that attend college and increasing academic self-efficacy amongst this minority group.

Most researchers agree that academic advising is a beneficial service that universities can provide to their students to support student success in academic and personal career achievement. Petty (2014) focuses on the challenges that first-generation students go through and points out that academic advising gives them the motivation and support needed to succeed. Petty (2014) found that academic advising should provide students with a chance to focus on their academic and personal goals and explore a variety of career pathways based on their interests. Drop-out rates and on-time graduation are affecting students who are not seeking academic advising services. Petty states that students who attend post-secondary institutions leave college without

Lin and Tsai (2008) used a quantitative approach to understanding student retention; however, they used their research to understand students’ loyalty. As fast as