Factors Influencing College Persistence for First-Time Students.

Abstract

Since the early nineteenth century, American colleges and universities addressed deficiencies in students' reading, writing, and mathematics skills. A chronology of developmental education delineates a long history of academic assistance in American colleges and universities (Cohen, Brawer, & Kisker, 2013). Opponents of remedial education have argued that the widespread need for remedial education at colleges and universities has ultimately increased costs to the students and taxpayers for education that should have been mastered in high school (Hoyt & Sorenson, 2001; Terry, 2007). In this study, remedial education is defined as coursework that compensates for a lack of basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills necessary to succeed in a college-level course. Student persistence is a major concern for most universities. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2011), 23% of full-time students who entered a four-year institution for the first time in 2008 did not remain at their college in the subsequent fall.A major issue facing higher education institutions serving underprepared and underrepresented populations is addressing transition issues for traditional aged college students during the first year (Raab & Adam, 2005). Researchers have become increasingly aware of the social and economic factors that contribute to how well students transition from secondary to postsecondary institutions. If students do not resolve transition issues in the first year, especially during the first semester, the likelihood of persisting at the same institution is diminished, which affects future enrollments and graduation rates (Raab 8c Adam, 2005).Evidence suggests that academic intervention programs such as tutoring programs, academic advising, and counseling programs have at least a modest effect with helping students overcome precollege academic deficiencies and associated disadvantages (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Findings from previous research (Braley & Ogden, 1997; Easterling, Patten, & Krile, 1995; Weissman, Silke, & Bulakowski, 1997) show that remediation efforts at higher education institutions provide short-term benefits by increasing academic performance for underprepared students within the first year in college and also provide long-term retention benefits ranging from 2 to 6 years.Literature ReviewResearch conducted by ACT (2007) from their curriculum-based measure of college readiness benchmark scores have shown that if high school students are ready for college, then dropout rates and remediation costs are reduced. Subsequently, more students will persist and graduate from college.Effect of Remediation on PersistenceAmong numerous studies investigating the effect of placement in remedial coursework, findings and conclusions have been mixed. As an example, Hoyt's (1999) study revealed that remediation had no significant relationship with persistence. Research by Livingston (2007) examined demographic, financial, and educational factors related to graduation from Virginia's public colleges and universities. His analysis of the 1993 and 1997 admission cohorts using regression analysis revealed that students who were not enrolled in remedial courses were more likely to persist and graduate than students who were enrolled in remedial courses.In another study, Adelman (1998) examined the relationship between a student's need for remedial courses and degree completion by examining college transcripts of high school students who graduated in 1982. Findings from his study revealed that 60% of college students who did not take remedial courses and 55% of those students who completed only one remedial course earned a college degree by the age of 30. In contrast, only 35% of the students who completed five or more remedial courses earned either a bachelor's or associate's degree. Findings from a recent study by Adelman (2006) showed that the number of remedial courses taken influenced the time to degree from college, but he did not find a significant relationship between remedial courses taken and graduation with a bachelor's degree. …

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