Abstract:
Because funding models for higher education are changing to place more value on student retention and student degree completion than they have in the past, college and university administrators need to examine their policies and strategies for recruiting “stopout” students to return to college and complete their degrees. Stopout students are students who previously enrolled in college, stopped attending college for a period of time, and then returned to higher education. Using Spady’s conceptual model, Tinto’s theory of student departure, Astin’s theory of student involvement, and Bean and Metzner’s student attrition model for nontraditional students as a framework, this qualitative research study used basic interpretive methods, through an interpretive worldview, to conduct and analyze interviews to better understand the experiences of stopout college students and identify strategies that support efforts by colleges to increase student graduation rates. All participants for this study were recruited from one community college in southwest Georgia. Analysis of the data revealed four conceptual themes: factors influencing college selection, role conflict and time management, institutional strengths and challenges, and influence of family and peer relationships. These findings suggest that stopout students are likely to graduate from college when they feel supported by the institution through positive relationships beginning at recruitment through graduation. The data from the informants show the day-to-day challenges experienced by stopout students as they attempt to graduate from college. Study findings were based on data collected from stopout students, college administration, and institutional policy and documents.