Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

6-1988

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Educational Administration and Supervision

Major Professor

Robert K. Roney

Committee Members

Dan Quarles, William Coffield, Edson Hammer

Abstract

A pilot study conducted by this author in I986 indicated that the adult graduation rate at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) was 15.8%, substantially below the 39.1% rate for traditional-age students. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the findings of the pilot study further through the means of a cross-sectional, a longitudinal and an autopsy study.

The longitudinal study examined the transcripts of 106 adults and 333 randomly selected students all of whom entered the University of Tennessee as first-time freshmen in 1977-79- The subjects were the same as those examined in the pilot study. Results showed that adults had lower CPAs, a higher attrition rate, and fewer transfers to other institutions than traditional-age students, but proportionally accounted for a higher number of honors.

The cross-sectional study examined the records of the 27,057 freshmen students who entered comparable public institutions in Tennessee in the same years (1977-79)- This study found that adults had an overall graduation rate of 9.4% compared to a rate of 38.9% for traditional-age students. Despite the same proportionally low graduation rate across the state, the one at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was found to be significantly different from the other six institutions. At 14.3% the UTC rate was the second highest in the seven public institutions examined.

The autopsy study examined the ratings of barriers to graduation as perceived by adults who graduated compared to those who did not. The subjects were the same adults studied in the longitudinal study. The barriers were divided into three types: dispositional, institutional and situational. The first and third types of barriers related to the individual, while the second was associated with the university. The survey determined that both graduates and non-graduates indicated that situational barriers, as a category, were the strongest barriers to persistence and to eventual graduation. No statistical tests were performed due to the small number of adult subjects who could be located.

It was found that the first two semesters were the critical ones for adult students, and often determined whether or not the student would persist to graduation. This suggested that universities should provide support services for adults at all times, but particularly in the initial semesters. Another recommendation was that The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga should repeat the longitudinal and cross-sectional studies in 1989» using data from the freshmen classes of 1982-84.

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