Are Students Who Comply with Progress Toward Degree Regulations More Successful?

NACTA Journal, Mar 2006 by Wilson, Elizabeth B, Kirby, Barbara M

As institutions begin to enforce "progress toward degree regulations," factors identified in research and used in admission formulas to predict success could also be used to predict the likelihood that the students will comply with regulations such as completing an on-line "plan of study." Advisers and institutions in general could provide more advising time and help to students who possess "at risk" factors as soon as they are enrolled in the institution. This study examined the association of several known student characteristics of the freshmen class of 2002; student gender, student race, high school GPA and high school class rank, to completing an online "plan of study." These characteristics were specifically addressed because these factors were identified in the application process and were known for the entire class of 2002 freshmen (n=604).

Progress toward Degree Policies

The implementation of time-toward-degree and retention policies by institutions is supported in much of the advising literature. Gordan and Habley state: "policy and procedures are linked to commitment" (p. 139) and suggest that policies and procedures be created to encourage student commitment. Retention has consistently been found to be dependent on the student's academic and personal needs which require collaborative efforts from advisers, students, faculty, and administrators to integrate the student both socially and academically into the University (Bedford and Durkee, 1989). The National Center for Education Statistics (1999) found that students who have planned a sequence of courses are more likely to be retained in their first two years, take more hours toward their degree, take more total hours, and have a higher GPA.

Much research has been conducted in the advising community to explain the association of credit production to completing a degree. The National Center for Education Statistics (1999) also found that the percentage of students who completed 30 credits their freshmen year (43%) were much more likely to maintain stable credit production throughout their degree. Those who took two years to reach the 30-credit threshold were four times more likely to drop out. The number of credits produced the first year was positively related to total credit production, reaching credit thresholds, time to degree, degree attainment, and overall credit production. They also found students at public institutions were more likely than students at private institutions to take longer than fours years to graduate. The National Center for Education Statistics (1999) also found that firstyear credit production, higher socioeconomic background, first-year grades, test scores, and summer term enrollment are all positively related to credit production while enrollment interruptions and initial part-time enrollment are negatively related.

In 2003, The National Center for Education Statistics found that higher grade point averages of students at public universities were associated with shorter time toward degree completion and that the higher a parent's education the longer the child took to complete a degree. According to the Task Force Report on Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates at NC State University (2003), academic performance is linked to retention and ultimately graduation rates. The percentage of graduates increased as grade point averages increased.