Date of Award
5-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Executive Leadership
First Supervisor
Kim VanDerLinden
Second Supervisor
Michael Robinson
Third Supervisor
Ed Engelbride
Abstract
Individuals from rural communities are less likely to enroll in college and complete a degree than those from non-rural areas. Nationally, rural students comprise one-fifth of college enrollment, and evidence suggests this demographic group has unique needs which may influence retention. This quantitative study examined multiple years of data from the State University of New York Student Opinion Survey for students at a small, rural technical college in Upstate New York to determine if relationships existed between a college student’s graduating high school community type, student satisfaction, GPA, and retention at the beginning of the second year. Binary logistic regression analyses were employed to determine the extent to which first-year retention was explained by self-reported satisfaction and GPA for rural high school graduates. Additionally, multiple t tests were used to determine if differences in satisfaction existed for students from rural high schools versus students from non-rural schools. The results indicated statistically significant positive correlations between students from rural high schools, first-year GPA, and satisfaction with the campus facilities, services, and environment. Rural high school students were also more likely to report that they would attend the university again, had higher overall levels of satisfaction with the college, and were more likely to indicate that the institution was a higher choice for them than for students from non-rural high schools. Recommendations for additional research and initiatives targeting students who graduate from high schools in rural communities are included.
Recommended Citation
Moore, Timothy, "An Examination of Satisfaction, GPA, and Retention of First-year College Students from Rural Communities at a Small Public Technical College" (2018). Education Doctoral. Paper 377.
https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/education_etd/377
Please note that the Recommended Citation provides general citation information and may not be appropriate for your discipline. To receive help in creating a citation based on your discipline, please visit http://libguides.sjfc.edu/citations.