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Retention of Vocational Education Graduates in Public Higher Education

Posted on: Saturday, 3 September 2005, 03:01 CDT

This study examines the retention of vocational education graduates in public higher education. Using 2,172 students who graduated vocational education programs in Area Vocational Technical Schools and enrolled as freshman (first-time young students) in public two-year and four-year colleges and universities in the 1996 fall semester, I conducted cohort analyses to exam the retention trend by gender and race. This study found that retention rates of vocational education graduates are lower than those of general students in both two-year and four-year public colleges and universities. Related policy implications are discussed.

Introduction and Background

Since college student retention is one of the major research topics in higher education, numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the relationships between college retention, persistence, and completion of degree and other influential factors including student socio-economic background, and institutional and environmental factors. While most analysis has targeted traditional full-time younger students, there is a trend toward studies focusing on diverse subgroups of college students such as adult learners, nontraditional students, and online learners (Ashar & Skenes, 1993; Dirkx, & Jha, 1994; Malicky, & Norman, 1994; Horn & Carroll, 1996). Retention studies on these specific groups have increased along with the growing enrollment of diverse populations.

One of the growing diverse groups in today's colleges consists of students who complete vocational education programs at the high school level. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (Levesque, Lauen, Teitelbaum, Alt, & Librera, 2000), for instance, 42 percent of 1982 high school vocational concentrators enrolled in postsecondary education, and this number increased to 55 percent of 1992 vocational concentrators. In particular, the number of vocational education graduates who entered public higher education in Missouri increased between 1996 and 2000. In 1996, 2,172 vocational education graduates entered public colleges; this number increased to 2,413 in 1998 and to 2,813 in 2000.

In spite of this trend, almost no studies have focused on this population. It is reasonable to expect that vocational education graduates in colleges have different retention patterns than other groups including traditional full-time younger students because their characteristics and goals are different from those of other populations. For instance, vocational education graduates' access to colleges is different from access for general education students because high school vocational education graduates generally enter the labor market directly. Levesque, Lauen, Teitelbaum, Alt, and Librera (2000) show that vocational concentrators in high school were less likely than their peers to enroll in a postsecondary institution within 2 years after completing high school, and were more likely to enroll in community colleges than four-year colleges. In addition, about one quarter (26 percent) of postsecondary students who were vocational concentrators in high school identified themselves primarily as workers rather than as students (Levesque, Lauen, Teitelbaum, Alt, & Librera, 2000). This implies that vocational education graduates may leave college whenever they need to work, with or without credentials.

For administrators as well as researchers, the concern is whether retention trends observed for traditional students are equally valid for all types of students (Martinez, 2001). Also, does the retention pattern of vocational education graduates follow the general retention pattern examined in previous studies? For instance, about 16 percent of first-year students at four-year colleges and universities in 1989-90 dropped out during their first year or failed to return for a second year (Horn 1998). Is this retention trend equally valid for vocational education graduates in public colleges and universities? Unfortunately these questions are as yet unanswered.

The purpose of this study is to describe retention of students who completed vocational education programs in Missouri public higher education and investigate a retention pattern by gender and race.

Date sources and methodology

Data Sources: Data on vocational education graduates came from the Missouri vocational education follow-up file. All records with the program level coded as 'SE' were considered vocational education graduates at the high school level. Higher education data on enrollment in and graduation from postsecondary education programs in Missouri came from the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education. These data were compiled from reports submitted by public institutions of higher education.

Participants: Participants in the study consisted of the 15,000 Missouri secondary vocational education program graduates or course completers from all Area Vocational and Technical Schools in the 1995-1996 school year. Among this population, 2,172 were enrolled as freshmen (first-time young students) in public two-year and four- year colleges and universities in the 1996 fall semester. Thus, 2,172 graduates or course completers were used for the study. Participants for the study included 1,161 females (51.9%) and 1,011 males (48.1%). White students were most prevalent in the study, at 1,965 (89.5%); 120 (6.6%) were black, and 87 (3.9%) indicated the "other" race category or selected no ethnic or racial group.

Data analysis: The first and most basic task in any institutional retention research effort is to design a simple sequence of cohort study using a student tracking technique (Ewell, 1984). No information is available for access to and retention of vocational education graduates or completers in colleges, but descriptive information is useful for easily addressing overall retention trends and comparisons between gender and among ethnic groups. Thus, descriptive statistics including frequency and percentage change of retention rates were calculated. To analyze group differences between male and female, and among races, χ^sup 2^ analyses were used.

Results

The number of vocational education graduates who enrolled in public higher education in 1996 was calculated to measure access to colleges. Overall population composition in total enrollment of vocational education graduates remained the same in both two-year and four-year colleges. Vocational education graduates were more likely to choose four-year colleges (53.0%) than two-year colleges (47.0%) as their primary postsecondary institutions. Both males and females tend to enroll in four-year colleges rather than two-year colleges. However, the majority of black vocational education graduates enrolled in two-year colleges (69.2%) rather than four- year colleges (30.8%).

Among 2,172 vocational education graduates who enrolled in public higher education, 1,152 students entered public four-year colleges in fall 1996. Figure 1 illustrates the trend of completion, retention, and dropout rates for vocational education graduates in public four-year colleges. Their first year retention rate in fall 1997 was 76.6%. So about 23.4% of students dropped out in their first year of college. By fall 2002, about 36.9% of students had completed, while 57.2% had dropped out of the programs.

Table 1

Access of 1996 vocational education graduates to public higher education

Retention and completion rates differed little across subgroups. Table 2 presents six-year retention rates of vocational education graduates in four-year colleges. Completion rates for female students were slightly higher than for males (38.4% and 35.1% respectively). Black students were less likely to dropout than white and others for the first two years in four-year colleges. Dropout rates of blacks were 16.2% in 1997 and 32.4% in 1998, while those of whites were 23.7% and 37.9% respectively. However, black students tended to dropout more than whites after the third year in college. As a result, at the end of six-years, the completion rate for black students was 24.3%, while the completion rate for whites was 37.6%. However, there were no significant group differences in completion and retention by gender (χ^sup 2^ =2.58, df =2, p> 0.274) and by race (χ^sup 2^ =5.68, df =4, p> 0.224).

Figure 1

Trend in retention rates of vocational education graduates in public four-year colleges

Figure 2 illustrates the retention rates trend for vocational education graduates in public two-year colleges. A total of 1,020 vocational completers enrolled in public two-year colleges in 1996. Among them, about 1.6% of students graduated within one year and 54.1% were retained in fall 1997. So, about 44.3% of vocational education graduates left in their first year. By fall 1999, about 11.4% of students had completed and 71.0% had dropped out of two- year colleges.

Table 2

Six-year retention rates of vocational education graduates in four-year colleges

Figure 2

Trend in retention rates of vocational education graduates in public two-year colleges

Table 3 presents three-year retention rates for vocational education graduates in two-year colleges. In these colleges, completion and dropout rates for male and female vocational education graduates were almost identical. However, therewere significant racial group differences in completion and retention rates (χ^sup 2^ = 12.40, df=4, p<0.014). In particular, no black students had completed their programs and about 81.9% had dropped out, while 12.5% of white students had completed programs by 1999. Additional follow-up on black students showed one black student completing in 2001 and another in 2002. However, 92.8% of black students had dropped out by 2002.

Table 3

Three-year retention rates of vocational education graduates in two-year colleges

Discussion

This study generated new findings on student access to college and supports previous studies on student retention. First, vocational education graduates who enrolled in public higher education were more likely to enroll in four-year colleges than in two-year colleges. This finding is somewhat different from those previous studies. Levesque, Lauen, Teitelbaum, Alt, and Librera (2000) found that vocational concentrators in high school tend to enroll in two-year colleges rather than four-year colleges. However, vocational education graduates from Missouri Area Vocational Technical Schools tend to enroll in four-year colleges instead of two-year colleges (53.0 vs. 47.0 percent). Only black students tend to enroll in two-year colleges rather than four-year colleges (69.2 vs. 30.8 percent).

Second, retention and degree completion rates of vocational education graduates were lower than those of general students in Missouri public higher education. The six-year program completion rate of vocational education graduates in public four-year colleges was 36.9%, which is lower than that of general students reported in previous studies (Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 2002; Astin, Tsui, & Avalos, 1996; Porter, 1990). In addition, the three-year completion rate in two-year colleges was 11.4%, which is far less than that of general students in two-year public colleges in Missouri (Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education, 2001 ) and nation wide (Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 2002). Two factors may be related to this lower retention of vocational education graduates. First, it is well known that pre-college academic preparation is closely related to retention and attrition (Tinto, 1987; Allen, 1999; DeBerard, Spielmans, & Julka, 2004). It is assumed that vocational education graduates from vocational technical schools are not academically well prepared for college because they primarily focus on work-related knowledge and skills. In addition, their perception of higher education is different from that of general students. They tend to identify themselves primarily as workers rather than as students (Levesque, Lauen, Teitelbaum, Alt, & Librera, 2000). These facts may contribute to the lower retention and completion rates of vocational education completers.

Third, only 24.3% of black students completed their program, while 64.9% dropped out within 6 years in public four-year colleges. As in many previous studies (Astin, Tsui, & Avalos, 1996; Cage, 1992), degree completion by black students was found to be lower than that for white students. Moreover, retention of vocational education graduates enrolled in two-year colleges differed significantly by racial groups. No black vocational education graduates in two-year colleges completed their programs, while 81.9% dropped out within 3 years. The dropout rate of blacks was more than 10% higher than that of white students.

Fourth, in two-year colleges, the dropout rate of vocational education graduates was larger than for those in four-year colleges. About 44.3% of students who enrolled in two-year colleges in the 1996 fall semester dropped out within 1 year, and about 71.0% of vocational education graduates had dropped out within 3 years. However, it is very important to understand the different measurement approach and relevant issues concerning retention and attrition in two-year colleges (Lenning, Beal, & Sauer, 1980; Ewell, 1984; Terenzini, 1987; Wild & Ebbers, 2002). The definition of and theoretical models for student retention should be adjusted for two- year colleges because of how mission, goal, and environment differ from those of four-year universities. If we focus on personal goal attainment instead of simple graduation and program completion, the results will be interpreted differently. For instance, most two- year colleges had the goals of successful student transfer to a four- year university and employment in the workplace. Those students who gain admission to their desired university and who find meaningful employment before graduating consider their goals met and have no need to finish a degree. Terenzini (1987) defined this group as 'attainers' who leave prior to certificate or degree completion but after achieving a personal goal. In these cases the student and the institution successfully accomplished their goal and mission. Thus, this result - lower retention of vocational education graduates in public two-year colleges - should be carefully interpreted in the context of relevant issues.

Conclusion and policy implications

This study allows education policy makers and college administrators to focus on the students who graduate from area vocational technical schools, vocational concentrators in high school, and even those who are majoring in vocational and technical programs in two-year colleges. This study found that retention rates of vocational education graduates are lower than those of general students in both four-year and two-year universities and colleges. If colleges are concerned about lower student retention, and want to increase retention rates, policy makers and college administrator should focus on specific groups that have lower retention rates, such as students from vocational education programs. Recently a couple of states, California and New Jersey, provided special funding to increase student retention, targeting certain student populations, including underrepresented and at-risk students whose retention rates are relatively low (Palmer, 1998). When education policy makers and college administrators target special groups, vocational education graduates should be included because of relatively low retention rates.

This study provides only descriptive information on retention of vocational education graduates. Further research, therefore, should focus on comprehensive approaches to student retention, such as asking why retention rates of the vocational education graduates from area vocational technical schools are lower than those of others, what factors are related, and how this matter should be dealt withto improve student retention. This will help to establish a strategic plan to improve retention of vocational education completers.

Reference

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Ashar, H., and Skenes, R. (1993). Can Tinto's student departure model be applied to nontraditional students? Adult Education Quarterly, 43(2), 90-100.

Astin, A. W., Tsui, L., and Avalos, J. (1996). Degree attainment rates at American colleges and universities: Effects of race, gender, and institutional types (Report No. HE 029589). Los Angeles, CA: Higher Education Research Institute.

Cage, M. (1992). Fewer students get Baccalaureates degree in 4 years, study finds. The Chronicle of Higher Education, A29-A30.

DeBerard, M. S., Spielmans, G. I., and Julka, D. (2004). Predictors of academic achievement and retention among college freshmen: A longitudinal study. College Student Journal, 38(1), 66- 81.

Dirkx, J. M., and Jha, L. R. (1994). Completion and attrition in adult basic education. Adult Education Quarterly, 45(1), 269-285.

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Horn, L. J., and Carroll, C. D. (1996). Nontraditional undergraduates: Trends in enrollment from 1986 to 1992 and persistence and attainment among 1989-90 beginning postsecondary students (NCES 97-578). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

Levesque, K., Lauen, D., Teitelbaum, P., Alt, M., and Librera, S. (2000). Vocational education in the United States: Toward the year 2000 (NCES 2000-029). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

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Martinez, P. (2001). Improving student retention and achievement: What do we know and what do we need to find out? LSDA Reports. London, UK: Learning and Skills Development Agency.

Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education. (2001). 2000- 2001 statistical summary of Missouri higher education. Jefferson City, MO: Department of Higher Education.

Palmer, J. (1998). Fostering student retention and success at the community college. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States.

Porter, O. F. (1990). Undergraduate completion and persistence at four-year colleges and universities: Detailed findings. Washington, DC: National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Postsecondary Education Opportunity. (March, 2002). Institutional graduation rates by control, academic selectivity and degree level 1983 to 2001. Oskaloosa, Iowa; Author.

Terenzini, P. (1987). Studying student attrition and retention. In G. W. McLaughlin & J. A. Muffo (Eds.), A primer of institutional research (pp. 20-35). Tallahassee, FL: Association of Institutional Research.

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JANG WAN KO, PH.D.

University of Missouri-Columbia

Copyright Project Innovation, Inc. Sep 2005

Source: College Student Journal

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