From Start to Finish: What Factors Inhibit Student Veterans Completion?

Student veterans experience unique challenges when returning to higher education. While the Post-9/11 GI bill creates an easier pathway for veterans, student veterans often face multiple impediments to degree completion. Using the Veterans Supplement of the Current Population Survey, we conducted a logistic regression of 4,887 veterans that predicts college retention measured by bachelor’s degree completion using six study variables of physical, sensory, and mental challenges (concentration, hearing, eyesight, walking, dressing, and going out). We conclude only difficulty hearing and walking significantly decreased the odds of bachelor’s degree completion. Recommendations for campus-student-support services are explored.

Examining college student retention: a closer look at low self-control

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to comprehensively explore the association between low self-control and college student retention.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional survey data were obtained from 369 undergraduate students in the USA and combined with follow-up data on retention. Factor analysis was used to develop and validate the abbreviated eight-item low self-control instrument. Propensity score matching, an analytic technique that permits the assertion of causality without the need for experimental design, was used to examine the relationship between low self-control and second-semester college retention. Use of propensity score matching permitted the pairing of survey respondents under the defined circumstance of low self-control with those respondents not having low self-control under multiple relevant covariates.FindingsThe results showed a relationship between low self-control and college retention. Specifically, in the matched sample, those students with low self-control were 8 percent less likely to be retained at the institution at the onset of the second year than their counterparts with higher self-control.Practical implicationsThe results of the study prompt the important question of how colleges and universities can alter their structures and processes to better support students with low self-control. Key managerial and administrative implications from the findings of this study revolve around the recognition, motivation, and subsequent performance appraisals of those students with low self-control.Originality/valueThis study extends the quite limited research on how low self-control correlates with retention and subsequently offers insights on how to further support students with low self-control as a way to improve retention outcomes. Additionally, the validated eight-item survey provides a quick, low-cost assessment tool for interested researchers and managers.

Re-Imagining the First Year as Catalyst for First-Year Writing Program Curricular Change

This article describes a revision of a first-year writing program curriculum using the pillars of the Reimagining the First-Year Program. The authors adapted principles related to mindset and habits of mind from both college retention scholarship and composition scholarship. After developing a research project in order to understand what elements of mindset correlate with readiness for credit-bearing writing courses, the authors created a multiple measures placement system for enrolling students in a credit-bearing first-year writing course with co-requisite support.

Analyses of Majors

When students are aware of and choose majors that are congruent with their interests and abilities, college retention rates improve. Systematic approaches that analyze and categorize majors help students make informed decisions by provding student-useable information about the educational environments of majors. Analysis and implications for academic advising of four web-based applications that provide this information are described in this article, along with student usage data. Course Preferences application allows students with low interest or abilities in some areas to find the majors that do not requiring certain courses. Major Themes application provides an interest survey that relates to majors. Science/Math Majors application provides information to help students understadn the intensity of the science and math courses required in different majors. Alternative Majors application provides students with majors options that have similar content.