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Main Author: Perkins-Holtsclaw, Kala Jenea
Format: Recurso educativo Open Access
Language:en
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED587660
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author Perkins-Holtsclaw, Kala Jenea
author_facet Perkins-Holtsclaw, Kala Jenea
Perkins-Holtsclaw, Kala Jenea
collection Education Resources Information Center
contents Relationships between Institutional Characteristics and Student Retention and Graduation Rates at SACSCOC Level III Institutions Perkins-Holtsclaw, Kala Jenea Institutional Characteristics College Students Academic Persistence Graduation Rate Correlation Geographic Regions Student Characteristics Educational Finance Predictor Variables Scores School Libraries Costs Tuition Fees College Faculty Teacher Student Ratio College Entrance Examinations As the United States struggles to be globally competitive with the number of students completing a college degree higher education leaders continue seeking answers to improving student retention and graduation rates. Decades of research has been conducted on investigating factors that impact student retention and graduation with the majority of that research being centered on student attributes and students' precollege characteristics. Research has been limited on institutional characteristics and their associations with student retention and graduation rates. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the extent that specific institutional characteristics predict first-year, full-time, fall-to-fall retention rates and 6-year graduation rates. The sample for this study consisted of 4-year institutions in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) region that have been granted Level III accreditation status and also report data annually to the Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS). All data used for this research were publicly available archival data available from IPEDS. Sixteen research questions were investigated about institutional student variables, environment variables, resource variables, financial variables, and interaction variables. Multiple linear regressions were conducted for all research questions, representing the statistical method of analysis. The findings showed that the most useful predictors for retention rates were students scoring at or above the 75th percentile ACT scores, physical library collections, expenditures for academic support, and tuition and required fees. When investigating to what extent institutional characteristics predict 6-year graduation rates the findings showed that 75 th percentile ACT scores, physical library collections, expenditures for instruction, the percentage of full-time faculty, and cost were the most useful predictors. Findings also showed that student-faculty ratios and the percentage of full-time faculty were not significant predictors for student retention. Some institutional predictor variables may be significant predictors for both retention rates and graduation rates, while other predictor variables may be significant predictors for only one of the criterion variables. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
format Recurso educativo Open Access
id eric_ED587660
institution ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
language en
publishDate 2018
record_format eric
spellingShingle Relationships between Institutional Characteristics and Student Retention and Graduation Rates at SACSCOC Level III Institutions
Perkins-Holtsclaw, Kala Jenea
Institutional Characteristics
College Students
Academic Persistence
Graduation Rate
Correlation
Geographic Regions
Student Characteristics
Educational Finance
Predictor Variables
Scores
School Libraries
Costs
Tuition
Fees
College Faculty
Teacher Student Ratio
College Entrance Examinations
Relationships between Institutional Characteristics and Student Retention and Graduation Rates at SACSCOC Level III Institutions Perkins-Holtsclaw, Kala Jenea Institutional Characteristics College Students Academic Persistence Graduation Rate Correlation Geographic Regions Student Characteristics Educational Finance Predictor Variables Scores School Libraries Costs Tuition Fees College Faculty Teacher Student Ratio College Entrance Examinations As the United States struggles to be globally competitive with the number of students completing a college degree higher education leaders continue seeking answers to improving student retention and graduation rates. Decades of research has been conducted on investigating factors that impact student retention and graduation with the majority of that research being centered on student attributes and students' precollege characteristics. Research has been limited on institutional characteristics and their associations with student retention and graduation rates. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the extent that specific institutional characteristics predict first-year, full-time, fall-to-fall retention rates and 6-year graduation rates. The sample for this study consisted of 4-year institutions in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) region that have been granted Level III accreditation status and also report data annually to the Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS). All data used for this research were publicly available archival data available from IPEDS. Sixteen research questions were investigated about institutional student variables, environment variables, resource variables, financial variables, and interaction variables. Multiple linear regressions were conducted for all research questions, representing the statistical method of analysis. The findings showed that the most useful predictors for retention rates were students scoring at or above the 75th percentile ACT scores, physical library collections, expenditures for academic support, and tuition and required fees. When investigating to what extent institutional characteristics predict 6-year graduation rates the findings showed that 75 th percentile ACT scores, physical library collections, expenditures for instruction, the percentage of full-time faculty, and cost were the most useful predictors. Findings also showed that student-faculty ratios and the percentage of full-time faculty were not significant predictors for student retention. Some institutional predictor variables may be significant predictors for both retention rates and graduation rates, while other predictor variables may be significant predictors for only one of the criterion variables. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
title Relationships between Institutional Characteristics and Student Retention and Graduation Rates at SACSCOC Level III Institutions
topic Institutional Characteristics
College Students
Academic Persistence
Graduation Rate
Correlation
Geographic Regions
Student Characteristics
Educational Finance
Predictor Variables
Scores
School Libraries
Costs
Tuition
Fees
College Faculty
Teacher Student Ratio
College Entrance Examinations
url https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED587660