Educational background on entry and drop-out from part-time undergraduate studies

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the relationship between differences in educational training at the time of entry into part-time undergraduate studies and persistence with such a program. The sample consisted of 612 students who enrolled for the first time in a part-time evening undergraduate program. A specially designed questionnaire was used as the chief measuring instrument. Possession of a high school diploma, having not repeated a year in high school, undertaking certain types of training, and delaying university entry by a year or more were found to be conducive to persistence. High school matriculation average, type of high school attended, amount of delay, and reasons for delaying entry to university were not found to be related to drop-out. The findings of the study stand in sharp contrast to previously reported research. OPEN DOOR COLLEGE ADMISSION policies require that previous educational attainment up to a given level may not be demanded as a prerequisite for entry into col lege. Many students who gain entry to college through such policies study on a part-time basis. Hay good (6) reported data to suggest that only 5% of the part-time students in an undergraduate program complete their studies. A study of the relationship between educational background on entry and drop-out from part-time undergraduate studies has become a matter of considerable interest both at the theoretical and the policy-making levels. Ulmer and Verner (11) found a lower rate of discontinu ance among students admitted on the basis of the General Educational Development Test than for students who were high school graduates. Other studies (2, 7, 8) show that students admitted on the basis of maturity do exceptionally well in university credit courses. Boshier (4), on the other hand, failed to link any factor in the personal background of the student with drop-out. He stressed the role of the institutional environment as the major determining factor. Thus, a student who discontinued in a given institution may be a prime candidate for completing his studies in another institution. Similarly, Eagle (5) failed to establish any difference between persisters and drop-outs on high school average, high school curriculum, or type of high school attended. Ulmer (10) reports that adults who do not have a high school diploma tend to show greater per sistence than those who do. Astin (1) used a representative sample of 217 institutions in the United States to develop a national profile of college drop-outs. His data, however, were restricted to full-time students. Tinto (9) has pub lished a theoretical synthesis of drop-out research in the field of higher education, but his large bibliography makes scant reference to drop-out among part-time students. Much of the research in this field has been done either on the full-time student or on the part-time student attend ing adult education, extra-mural, or community college classes. The purpose of this investigation was to study the This content downloaded from 157.55.39.30 on Fri, 27 May 2016 05:56:33 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 104 JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION generalizability of previously reported research to the part time students studying in a regular evening university. The study was designed to investigate the relationship between differences in educational background on entry into part time undergraduate studies at an evening university and persistence with such a program.