The university college model: A learning-centered approach to retention and remediation (original) (raw)

2005, New Directions for Institutional Research

The critical need for improving academic and support services for first-year, full-time students is well documented in the literature. As Vincent Tinto (1996) observed, "Nearly 57 percent of all drop-outs from four year institutions leave before the start of their second year" (p. 1). Thus many students fail to make an effective transition from high school through higher education. Often the transition issues include academic underpreparedness, but increasingly researchers are aware of socialization and economic factors that play into the equation. These transition issues represent a major dilemma for state institutions, especially those serving traditionally underrepresented populations, which represent a growing portion of our future enrollments. If these students do not resolve their transition issues during their first year and drop out, everyone loses. The loss of these students costs universities and colleges in financial terms and also in time wasted. The loss to the student in terms of quality of life and to the nation in terms of lost potential and productivity is immeasurable. Research findings have repeatedly demonstrated that the first semester is the most crucial for the new student. If the student makes it through those first months, he or she will more than likely return for the next semester (Tinto, 1993; Christie and Dinham, 1990). If the student makes it successfully through the first year, he or she will more than likely return for the second. Thus the first year, more specifically the first semester, is critical for student survival. For many students, particularly those from low-income households, a successful first-year experience derives from a combination of factors:

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact