Non-Persisting Student Follow-Up.

A survey was conducted to determine the characteristics and opinions of the non-persisting students at Moraine Valley Community College. A random sample of 500 non-persisting students was selected, with equal numbers of full-time and part-time ex-students. Separate questionnaires were used for non-persisting full-time and non-persisting part-time students. A total of 227 students (45%) returned the questionnaire following two attempts. A sample of non-respondents was telephoned and their answers compared with those of the mail respondents. Demographic variables were taken from the student record files. Among the results were the following: (1) higher retention occurs within an academic year (fall to spring) than between academic years; (2) although retention rates remain stable, the number of students lost increases each semester; (3) 9% subsequently re-enrolled two semesters later; (4) full-time non-persisters gave transfer or goal achievement as the principal reason for not returning, which part-time non-persisters most often indicated personal reasons for not returning; (5) full-time non-persisters cited "transfer to another college" as their goal, while part-time non-persisters were almost equally distributed among the 5 categories of educational goals; (6) no relationship existed between the number of hours a student was employed and his goal accomplishment; (7) understanding and implementation-oriented instruction received higher evaluations than did dissemination-oriented instruction. (KM)