Amotivation: A Key Predictor of College GPA, College Match, and First-Year Retention

Vanessa Coca and Jenny Nagaoka Match Participation in College Application , Four - year College Enrollment , and College

This article examines the extent to which indicators of the college-going climate of urban high schools are associated with students’ application to, enrollment in, and choice among four-year colleges. The investigators examine two mechanisms by which high schools may shape college enrollment among low-income students in an urban school system: (1) by ensuring whether seniors who aspire to a fo...

The Relationship of Self-Efficacy and GPA, Attendance, and College Student Retention

Potholes on the Road to College: High School Effects in Shaping Urban Students’ Participation in College Application, Four-year College Enrollment, and College Match

This article examines the extent to which indicators of the college-going climate of urban high schools are associated with students’ application to, enrollment in, and choice among four-year colleges. The investigators examine two mechanisms by which high schools may shape college enrollment among low-income students in an urban school system: (1) by ensuring whether seniors who aspire to a fo...

Dispositional happiness and college student GPA: Unpacking a null relation

We examined the mechanisms that underlie the null relation between dispositional happiness and college grade point average (GPA) by testing the hypothesis that dispositional happiness has positive and negative indirect links to GPA that offset each other. The sample consisted of 317 first-year students. Using structural equation modeling, we found that dispositional happiness exerted a positive...

Determinants of Undergraduate GPA and Persistence at Connecticut College

This thesis uses a unique dataset of five class-years to determine the factors that affect the academic experience of students at Connecticut College, particularly their cumulative grade point averages (CGPA) and persistence into sophomore year. Chapter I examines how changes in high school inputs affect students’ performance at Connecticut College. This chapter finds that high school inputs (v...