Bringing them back: using latent class analysis to re-engage college stop-outs
Half of the students who begin college do not complete a degree or certificate. The odds of completing a degree are decreased if a student has a low socio-economic status (SES), is the first in a family to attend college (first-generation), attends multiple institutions, stops out multiple times, re...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1297464/full |
| _version_ | 1797340308470497280 |
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| author | Cassandra Lynn West Qi Chen Nduka Boika |
| author_facet | Cassandra Lynn West Qi Chen Nduka Boika |
| author_sort | Cassandra Lynn West |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Half of the students who begin college do not complete a degree or certificate. The odds of completing a degree are decreased if a student has a low socio-economic status (SES), is the first in a family to attend college (first-generation), attends multiple institutions, stops out multiple times, reduces credit loads over time, performs poorly in major-specific coursework, has competing family obligations, and experiences financial difficulties. Stopping out of college does not always indicate that a student is no longer interested in pursuing an education; it can be an indication of a barrier, or several barriers faced. Institutions can benefit themselves and students by utilizing person-centered statistical methods to re-engage students they have lost, particularly those near the end of their degree plan. Using demographic, academic, and financial variables, this study applied latent class analysis (LCA) to explore subgroups of seniors who have stopped out of a public four-year Tier One Research intuition before graduating with a four-year degree. The findings indicated a six-class model was the best fitting model. Similar to previous research, academic and financial variables were key determinants of the latent classes. This paper demonstrates how the results of an LCA can assist institutions in the decisions around intervention strategies and resource allocations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:01:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be6f56fcaf87443fa802f12c932b94d4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:01:07Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-be6f56fcaf87443fa802f12c932b94d42024-01-29T11:49:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782024-01-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.12974641297464Bringing them back: using latent class analysis to re-engage college stop-outsCassandra Lynn West0Qi Chen1Nduka Boika2Data, Analytics, and Institutional Research, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United StatesDepartment of Educational Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United StatesDepartment of Educational Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, United StatesHalf of the students who begin college do not complete a degree or certificate. The odds of completing a degree are decreased if a student has a low socio-economic status (SES), is the first in a family to attend college (first-generation), attends multiple institutions, stops out multiple times, reduces credit loads over time, performs poorly in major-specific coursework, has competing family obligations, and experiences financial difficulties. Stopping out of college does not always indicate that a student is no longer interested in pursuing an education; it can be an indication of a barrier, or several barriers faced. Institutions can benefit themselves and students by utilizing person-centered statistical methods to re-engage students they have lost, particularly those near the end of their degree plan. Using demographic, academic, and financial variables, this study applied latent class analysis (LCA) to explore subgroups of seniors who have stopped out of a public four-year Tier One Research intuition before graduating with a four-year degree. The findings indicated a six-class model was the best fitting model. Similar to previous research, academic and financial variables were key determinants of the latent classes. This paper demonstrates how the results of an LCA can assist institutions in the decisions around intervention strategies and resource allocations.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1297464/fulldegree completionstop-outlatent class analysisperson-centeredintervention |
| spellingShingle | Cassandra Lynn West Qi Chen Nduka Boika Bringing them back: using latent class analysis to re-engage college stop-outs Frontiers in Psychology degree completion stop-out latent class analysis person-centered intervention |
| title | Bringing them back: using latent class analysis to re-engage college stop-outs |
| title_full | Bringing them back: using latent class analysis to re-engage college stop-outs |
| title_fullStr | Bringing them back: using latent class analysis to re-engage college stop-outs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bringing them back: using latent class analysis to re-engage college stop-outs |
| title_short | Bringing them back: using latent class analysis to re-engage college stop-outs |
| title_sort | bringing them back using latent class analysis to re engage college stop outs |
| topic | degree completion stop-out latent class analysis person-centered intervention |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1297464/full |
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