| The purpose of this study was to better understand student retention of 3905 first-time students at a large multi-campus comprehensive urban community college located in the southwestern United States. The objective was to determine if differences associated with student demographic, pre-admission, and post-admission variables existed among first-time students who were retained or not retained after completing the first semester.;After the fall 1990 semester, 73.3% of the students were retained. Chi-square analysis revealed that Hispanics were retained better than expected while Blacks and Anglos were retained in lower proportions. When multiple linear regression was used, the R-square for the student demographic variables was.0585 (F = 24.192, p ;The implications were, for the most part, positive. The fact that student demographic variables accounted for such a small amount of the variance was good news. In terms of retention, it made little difference how old students were, to what ethnic group they belonged, what their citizenship was, whether they were males or females, or whether their socioeconomic status was high or low.;Implications of the findings about pre-admission variables were not great. Students who were economically disadvantaged or eligible for financial aid were retained better than expected.;Post-Admission variables were the most important. Students who were placed on probation or suspended, who failed to pass any class, and who dropped more credit hours were more likely to drop out. |
