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A.C.T. variables, athletics participation and college graduation rates
Abstract
The problem leading to this study was that of Enrollment Management at colleges and universities. While officials at institutions of higher education were required to report graduation rates, very few of these officials knew what variables and characteristics made up their entering freshmen classes and what affect these variables and characteristics had on the institutional graduation rates. In conducting this study, the researcher determined what type of relationship existed between select American College Testing Program (ACT) data and college graduation rates. The researcher also determined what relationship existed between participation in college athletics and college graduation rates. Data from the University of Nebraska at Kearney were collected on the first-time, full-time, degree-seeking entering freshmen classes for the 1983-1984, 1984-1985, 1985-1986, 1986-1987, 1987-1988, and 1988-1989 academic years. The University of Nebraska at Kearney is comprehensive, medium-sized, public, midwestern university. Data were collected on the entire freshmen class for each year. The populations for each year of the study were 1,314 in 1983-1984, 1190 in 1984-1985, 1236 in 1985-1986, 1317 in 1986-1987, 1466 in 1987-1988, and 1,432 in 1988-1989 for a total population of 7,955 students in the study. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Statistical tests performed included the Chi-Square test and discriminate analysis test. The researcher hypothesized that the independent variables of ACT composite scores, whether ACT data were submitted, selected ACT Student Profile Characteristics, and athletics participation would consistently identify differences between the dependent variable of graduating and non-graduating students. The findings of the study indicated that only the variables ACT composite score and whether ACT data were submitted yielded significant differences between graduates and non-graduates in each year of the study. The variables of estimated family income, intent to receive financial aid, intent to work, size of hometown, and athletic participation yielded no significant differences between graduates in any year of the study. The variables of gender, receiving athletic-related financial aid, and high school activities participated in yielded mixed results, The implication of the results was that it was difficult to find variables that delineated graduates from non-graduates and that more studies in different types of institutions needed to be conducted in order to validate or negate the findings of this study.
Subject Area
School administration|Educational sociology|Educational evaluation
Recommended Citation
Robinson, Wade Andrew, "A.C.T. variables, athletics participation and college graduation rates" (1995). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9600753.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9600753