Post-High School Experiences and College Attrition

Abstract

While most studies of college attrition have focused on students' social and academic background as predictors, this study investigated the consequences of the social contexts and experiences of students after they have entered college. The study used data from the National Longitudinal Study (NLS) of the high school class of 1972. It was found that students who entered two-year community/junior colleges, who were employed (unless in work-study positions), and who lived off campus but not with their parents, were more likely to drop out in both the first and the second years of college than were other students. The indirect effects of these social contexts through differential academic performance, academic and social integration, peer attitudes toward college, and achievement goals were also explored in an attempt to more fully understand these structural effects.