Persistence toward bachelor degree completion of students in Family and Consumer Sciences

College Student Journal, Sept, 2006 by Lee Blecher

Enrollment intensity. The impact of part-time versus full-time attendance (enrollment intensity) on persistence has been studied to a limited extent since most of the research on attrition in higher education has been restricted to studying full-time students. Nevertheless, research on enrollment intensity focused on students attending commuter four-year and two-year institutions has generally supported the contention that students enrolled part-time in comparison to full-time are more likely to dropout of college (Bean & Metzner, 1985). It has been postulated that part-time attendance is associated with less involvement and interactions within the academic community, which, in turn, can result in negative outcomes such as dropout behavior (Astin, 1996; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). A study by O'Toole et al. (2003), however, indicated that although students attending part-time sometime during their course of study would likely have delayed graduations, part-time attendance in itself had little impact on persistence.

Pull-factors. Factors external to the college that "pull" students away from participating fully in the academic and social communities of the institution will potentially have a negative effect on student outcomes and persistence (Bean, 1990; Nora, Cabrera, Hagedorn, & Pacarella, 1996). Of these factors, there has been fairly strong support in the literature that full-time work, especially when it is off campus, has a negative impact on degree completion (Astin, 1993; Choy, 2002; Ehrenberg & Sherman, 1987; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991; Tinto, 1993). The more hours students work during their first year has been shown to increase the likelihood of departure from postseconadary education (Bradburn, 2002).

Academic and social integration. Many studies have lent support to the contention that greater amounts of integration and involvement in the academic and social aspects of the campus community can increase the likelihood of student persistence (Astin, 1993; Bean, 1990; Berger & Milem, 1999; Cabrera, Castaneda, Nora, & Hengstler 1992; Lamport, 1993; Tinto, 1993). Some studies, however, have not supported a strong relationship between integration and persistence (Braxton et al., 1997; Stage & Rushin, 1993), and some indicate that integration might play different roles for different student populations (e.g., residential vs. commuters, traditional vs. nontraditional) (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991).

Scholastic performance. The scholastic performance of students while attending college is believed to contribute both direct and indirect effects on dropout behavior (Bean, 1990). A number of studies can be cited that support the proposition that undergraduate grades have a high degree of relationship with persistence (Astin, 1993; DeBerard, Spielmans, & Julka, 2004; Lufi, Parish-Plass, & Cohen, 2003; Murtaugh et al., 1999; Nora et al., 1996; Peng & Fetters, 1978; St. John et al., 2004).

Satisfaction. Astin (1993) found satisfaction levels to be related to the number of college years completed. Although other studies support the contention that satisfaction levels are positively related with subsequent persistence behavior, they have focused on institutional persistence (Mohr, Eiche, & Sedlacek, 1998; Starr, Betz, & Menne, 1972). With system persistence, Blecher, et al. (2002) found little to no relationship between satisfaction and five-year persistence rates. Astin (1993) found a positive correlation between satisfaction measures and "left school or transferred", implying that satisfaction may have a relationship with persistence or transferring or both