This study examined the longitudinal persistence behavior of first-time, nontraditionally aged students at four-year institutions by leveraging the 2004 to 2009 Beginning Postsecondary Student data set. A human capital theory framework was employed to assess how student background characteristics, enrollment characteristics, and financial factors influence first-time, nontraditional student retention across multiple years of enrollment. The findings indicated that the highest risk of departure occurred during the first year of enrollment for nontraditional students who were first generation, enrolled full time, and from a low-income background. During the second year, students from a middle-income background were most at risk. Female students were most likely to depart in the third year, and minority students had the greatest risk of departure during the fourth year.
BakerC. N.RobnettB. (2012).
Race, social support and college student retention: A case study. Journal of College Student Development,
53(2), 325–335.
2.
BeanJ. P.MetznerB. S. (1985).
A conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student retention. Review of Educational Research,
55(4), 485–540.
3.
BeckerG. S. (1993). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis with special reference to education (3rd ed.).
Chicago, IL:
The University of Chicago Press.
4.
BergmanM.GrossJ. P. K.BerryM.ShuckB. (2014).
If life happened but a degree didn’t: Examining factors that impact adult student persistence. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education,
62(2), 90–101.
5.
BettingerE. (2004). How financial aid affects persistence. In HoxbyC. M. (Ed.), College choices: The economics of where to go, when to go, and how to pay for it (pp. 207–237).
Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press.
6.
BlossfeldH. -P.RohwerG. (1995). Techniques of event history modeling: New approaches to causal analysis.
Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
7.
BlumenstykG. (2018). The adult student: The population colleges—and the nation—can’t afford to ignore.
Washington, DC:
The Chronicle of Higher Education.
8.
BrändleT. (2017).
How availability of capital affects the timing of enrollment: The routs to university of traditional and non-traditional students. Studies in Higher Education,
42(12), 2229–2249.
9.
CabreraN. L.MinerD. D.MilemJ. F. (2013).
Can a summer bridge program impact first-year persistence and performance? A case study of the New Start Summer Program. Research in Higher Education,
54(5), 481–498.
10.
CaruthG. D. (2018).
Student engagement, retention, and motivation: Assessing academic success in today’s college students. Participatory Educational Research,
5(1), 17–30.
11.
ChenJ.HosslerD. (2017).
The effects of financial aid on college success of two-year beginning nontraditional students. Research in Higher Education,
58(1), 40–76.
12.
ChenR. (2012).
Institutional characteristics and college student dropout risks: A multilevel event history analysis. Research in Higher Education,
53, 487–505.
13.
ChenR.DesJardinsS. L. (2007).
Exploring the effects of financial aid on the gap in student dropout risks by income level. Research in Higher Education,
49(1), 1–18.
14.
ChenX. (2005). First generation students in postsecondary education: A look at their college transcripts (NCES 2005-171).
Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Education.
15.
ChoyS. (2002). Nontraditional undergraduates (NCES 2002–012).
Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Education.
16.
ChungE.TurnbullD.Chur-HansenA. (2017).
Differences in resilience between ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ university students. Active Learning in Higher Education,
18(1), 77–87.
17.
DavidsonC.WilsonK. (2013).
Reassessing Tinto’s concepts of social and academic integration in student retention. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice,
15(3), 329–346.
18.
DoughertyB. C.WoodlandR. (2009).
Understanding sources of financial support for adult learners. Journal of Continuing Higher Education,
57(3), 181–186.
EthingtonC. A.ThomasS. L.PikeG. R. (2002). Back to the basics: Regression as it should be. In SmartJ. C. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (
Vol. 17, pp. 263–293).
New York, NY:
Agathon
GilardiS.GuglielmettiC. (2011).
University life of non-traditional students: Engagement styles and impacts on attrition. The Journal of Higher Education,
82(1), 33–53.
23.
IshitaniT. T. (2016).
First-generation students’ persistence at four-year institutions. College and University,
91(22),
24.
IshitaniT. T.DesJardinsS. L. (2002).
A longitudinal investigation of dropout from college in the United States. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice,
4(2), 173–201.
25.
JuszkiewiczJ. (2017). Trends in community college enrollment and completion data, 2017.
Washington, DC:
American Association of Community Colleges.
26.
LaananF. S.StarobinS. S.EgglestonL. E. (2010).
Adjustment of community college students at a four-year university: Role and relevance of transfer student capital for student retention. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice,
12(2), 175–209.
27.
LaingC.RobinsonA. (2003).
The withdrawal of non-traditional students: Developing an explanatory model. Journal of Further and Higher Education,
27(2), 175–185.
28.
LiD. (2010).
They need help: Transfer students from four-year to four-year institutions. The Review of Higher Education,
33(2), 207–238.
MaJ.BaumS. (2016). Trends in community colleges: Enrollment, prices, student debt, and completion.
New York, NY:
College Board.
31.
MarkleG. (2015).
Factors influencing persistence among nontraditional university students. Adult Education Quarterly,
65(3), 267–285.
32.
MetznerB. S.BeanJ. P. (1987).
The estimation of a conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition. Research in Higher Education,
27(1), 15–38.
33.
OffermanM. (2011).
Profile of nontraditional doctoral degree students. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education,
129, 21–30.
OsamE. K.BergmanM.CumberlandD. M. (2017).
An integrative literature review on the barriers impacting adult learners’ return to college. Adult Learning,
28(2), 54–60.
36.
PaulsenM. B.St. JohnE. P. (2002).
Social class and college costs: Examining the financial nexus between college choice and persistence. Journal of Higher Education,
73(2), 189–236.
37.
PeraltaK. J.KlonowskiM. (2017).
Examining conceptual and operational definitions of ‘first-generation college student’ in research on retention. Journal of College Student Development,
58(4), 630–636.
38.
PernaL. W. (2005).
Sex differences in faculty tenure and promotion: The contribution of family ties. Research in Higher Education,
46(3), 277–307.
39.
RabournK. E.BrckaLorenzA.ShoupR. (2018).
Reimagining student engagement: How nontraditional adult learners engage in traditional postsecondary environments. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education,
66(1), 22–33.
40.
RobertsJ.StyronR. (2010).
Student satisfaction and persistence: Factors vital to student retention. Research in Higher Education,
6(3), 1–18.
41.
Rowan-KenyonH. T. (2007).
Predictors of delayed college enrollment and the impact of socioeconomic status. The Journal of Higher Education,
78(2), 188–214.
42.
SenieK. C. (2016).
Implementing transfer and articulation: A case study of community colleges and state universities. Community College Journal of Research & Practice,
40(4), 269–284.
43.
ShapiroD.DundarA.HuieF.WakhunguP.YuanX.NathanA.HwangY. A. (2017, April). A national view of student attainment rates by race and ethnicity–Fall 2010 cohort.
Herndon, VA:
National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
44.
SingerJ. D.WillettJ. B. (1993).
It’s about time: Using discrete-time survival analysis to study duration and the timing of events. Journal of Educational Statistics,
18(2), 155–195.
45.
SpellmanN. (2007).
Enrollment and retention barriers adult students encounter. Community College Enterprise,
13(1), 63–80.
46.
TabachnickB. G.FidellL. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.).
New York, NY:
Pearson.
47.
TaniguchiH.KaufmanG. (2005).
Degree completion among nontraditional college students. Social Science Quarterly,
86(4), 912–927.
48.
TaylorJ.HouseB. (2010).
An exploration of identity, motivations and concerns of non-traditional students at different stages of higher education. Psychology Teaching Review,
16(1), 46–57.
WellsR. S.LynchC. M. (2012).
Delayed college entry and the socioeconomic gap: Examining the roles of student plans, family income, parental education, and parental occupation. The Journal of Higher Education,
83(5), 671–697.
55.
WyattL. G. (2011).
Nontraditional student engagement: Increasing adult student success and retention. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education,
59(1), 10–20.
56.
YamaguchiK. (1991). Event history analysis.
Newbury Park, CA:
SAGE.
