PhD thesis,
Student persistence: An examination of students pre-college characteristics and freshmen to sophomore student persistence at a selective private university
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, PhD Thesis, (1998)
Abstract
One of the primary issues confronting higher education is student persistence. This study examines how student characteristics obtained at entrance may serve as predictors for identifying an at-risk population of students who may become non-persisters. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine student persistence between the freshman and sophomore years at a highly selective private university. The subjects in this study are first-time freshmen who began college in 1993. Utilizing official university records and responses to a survey instrument, the study examined several independent variables to determine the effect these variables had on student persistence. The primary independent variables were: prior academic achievement measured by high school grade-point average and SAT scores, whether the student was from the state of California or from another state, parent educational level, and the ability to pay for higher education as measured by financial aid indicators. Results suggest that certain variables obtained at entrance may be utilized as predictors which assist in identifying an at-risk group of students. Further, the results support the hypothesis that the level of financial aid a student receives, whether the student came to the university from in-state or out-of-state, and parents' educational level all contribute to the student persistence equation.
