A study to determine the factors that cause students to become dropouts at Chattanooga State Technical Community College

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that cause students to become dropouts at Chattanooga State Technical Community College. The reduction of applicants and rising inflation force college administrators to study the dropout problem.

On October 16, 1978, questionnaires were sent to 100 persisters and 100 non-persisters. A persister was defined as a student who enrolled in the fall quarter of l977 and was still enrolled in the fall quarter of l978. A nonpersister was defined as a student who was enrolled in the fall quarter of l977, but was not enrolled in the fall quarter of 1978. The survey followed the requirements of a systematic linear random sample.

There were four research questions. One, was there a significant difference between home environmental factors of the non-persister and the persister at Chattanooga State. Two, was there a significant difference between college environmental factors of the non-persister and the persister at Chattanooga State. Three, was there a significant difference between the personal, emotional, and academic characteristics of the non-persister and the persister at Chattanooga State. And finally, did the traditional definition of a dropout hold for students of Chattanooga State.

Seventeen variables were found to be independent of the dependent variable (non-persister or persister). There were five variables where a dependent relationship was found to exist. They were educational status, educational goals, grade point average, the number of times a major had been changed, and the concept of how much help and concern the students had received from college personnal.

The findings were: first, there was no significant difference between home environmental factors of non-persisters and persisters at Chattanooga State. Second, there was a significant difference between college environmental factors of one variable. The non-persisters tended to view the help and concern they had received from college personnel differently than did the persisters. Third, there was also a significant difference between the personal, emotional, and academic characteristics of the non-persisters and persisters of Chattanooga State. The non-persisters tended to have lower grade point averages. Finally, because a large number of students enroll in Chattanooga State to take only a few courses, the traditional definition is not accurate. Thus, the definitions of the terms dropout and persister should be redefined.