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Parent participation and student persistence in small colleges
Abstract
This dissertation presents a quantitative study of college student persistence. National statistics indicate that 50% of students entering a college or university do not graduate in four years (Department of Education, 1991). Several factors influence student persistence, including: academic preparation, financial concerns, personal reasons, emotional/psychological development, and environmental influences (Edwards, Cangemi, & Kowalski, 1990). The environmental aspect of student persistence is the focus of this study. The theory base for this study is Tinto's (1975) model of student attrition. The first hypothesis states that a significant relationship exists between parent participation and student persistence. Parent participation includes attending programs for parents offered by the college, campus contacts by parents, and student contacts by parents. Student persistence is defined as enrollment of a freshman at the same institution for the sophomore year. The population for the study included parents of college freshmen who entered Dana College, Hastings College, Midland Lutheran College, or Nebraska Wesleyan University in the fall of 1994. Over one hundred parents participated in the study. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between parent participation and student persistence--the more parents participated, the more likely students were to persist. The results also showed that participation of parents of persisters was significantly higher than participation of parents of nonpersisters. Parent participation is related to student persistence and thus may be a predictor of student persistence.
Subject Area
School administration|Academic guidance counseling
Recommended Citation
Lack, Janet S, "Parent participation and student persistence in small colleges" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9725127.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9725127