Attending a second- or later-choice college: Connections with persistence
Open Access
- Author:
- Webb, Bradley Michael
- Graduate Program:
- Higher Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 29, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Neal H Hutchens, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Neal H Hutchens, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Roger Lewis Geiger, Committee Member
Leticia Oseguera, Committee Member
Jeremy Plant, Outside Member - Keywords:
- persistence
retention
college choice
safety school
first-choice
later-choice
barriers
transfer - Abstract:
- Enrollments in postsecondary education have climbed steadily for more than 20 years. However, during this same time period, students enrolled in their school of first-choice in decreasing numbers. In fact, slightly more than 55% indicated they enrolled at their first-choice college in 2013 (Eagan, Lozano, Hurtado, & Case, 2013). Thus, more students are attending institutions where they did not, at least originally, plan to attend. This raises numerous questions for students, researchers, and administrators, and served as the impetus for this study. This dissertation investigated five separate research questions regarding the connections of attending a second- or later-choice college with student persistence and grade point average (GPA). Two separate research methodologies were employed - a qualitative analysis using focus groups with students who re-enrolled at a second- or later-choice college and a quantitative analysis of CIRP – The Freshman Survey responses. The study was conducted at a mid-size, open-admissions institution in the northeast portion of the United States. The institution offers more than 125 programs leading to certificate’s, associate’s, and bachelor’s degrees in the technical fields. A qualitative analysis uncovered a fledging framework that contributes to our overall understandings of the re-enrollment decision process for students at a second- or later-choice college. Focus group responses also revealed two significant motivators of re-enrollment – barriers to leaving and expected outcomes – that were previously not discussed in mainstream research. Finally, findings raised numerous questions concerning the concept of “first choice”. A quantitative analysis, using a different sample from the same institution, found no significant statistical differences between students at a first-choice college versus those at a second- or later-choice college in fall-to-fall retention, fall-to-spring retention, and grade point average. Implications for research, theory, public policy, and practice are discussed.