Student Attrition,Retention,and Persistence: The Case of the University of Texas Pan American

Abstract

This article reports on a causal-comparative study of 1,425 students constituting the entire cohort of 1992 entering freshman at the University of Texas Pan American (UTPA). The study compares the characteristics of the cohort who left UTPA before graduation, those who were retained and graduated within 6 years, those who left and did not return, and those who returned and ultimately graduated from the institution. Using persistence models, the study reveals a pattern of student behavior and student characteristics to each group that provides indications of how to identify and assist students in danger of not completing their education.

Keywords

Hispanic student attrition retention persistence

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

ACT, Inc. (1992). Class profile report. Iowa City: Author.

NOT CITED IN TEXT Astin, A.W. (1975). Preventing students from dropping out. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Astin, A.W. (1984). Student involvement: A development theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25, 297-308.

Bean, J.P. (1980). Dropouts and turnover: The synthesis and test of a causal model of student attrition. Research in Higher Education, 12, 155-187.

Braxton, J.M. (2000). Reworking the student departure puzzle. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

Cabrera, A.F. , Castañeda, M.B. , Nora, A. , & Hengstler, D.S. (1992). The convergence between two theories of college persistence. Journal of Higher Education, 63, 143-164.

Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A study in sociology ( G. Simpson , Ed., J.A. Spaulding & G. Simpson, Trans.). New York: Free Press.

Gatz, L.B. , & Hirt, J.B. (2000). Academic and social integration in cyberspace: Students and e-mail. The Review of Higher Education, 23, 299-318.

MGT PLS. SPELL OUT of America (1998). Enrollment management study: Final report. Austin: Author.

10.

Office of Institutional Effectiveness . (2000). Institutional factbook. Edinburg: University of Texas-Pan American WITH DASH?.

11.

Pascarella, E.T. , Duby, P. , & Iverson, B. (1983). A test and a re-conceptualization of a theoretical model of college withdrawal in a commuter institution setting. Sociology of Education, 56, 88-100.

12.

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. (2000). Closing the gap study. Retrieved DATE? from http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/reports/PDF/0463/K_Appendix.pdf

13.

Tierney, W. (1992). An anthropological analysis of student participation in college. Journal of Higher Education, 63, 603-618.

14.

Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Education Research, 45, 89-125.

15.

Tinto, V. (1982). Limits of theory and practice. Journal of Higher Education, 53, 687-700.

16.

Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

17.

Tinto, V. (1988). Stages of student departure: Reflections on the longitudinal character of student leaving. Journal of Higher Education, 59, 438-455.

18.

Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college. Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

19.

U.S. Census Bureau OR BUREAU OF THE CENSUS?. (2000). Demographic statistics on Hispanics. Available from http//www.uscensus.Hispanics PLS. CHECK WEB SITE