Developing Models of Graduate Student Degree Progress

Few studies have focused on graduate student retention or degree progress; rather, the emphasis in the literature has been on attracting the best and/or the underrepresented students to graduate school [13]. What happens to these students once they enroll? The dropout rate differs for women and minorities compared to men and non-minorities at each step along the educational pipeline, including graduate school [5]. However, little information is available on the factors associated with graduate student retention or degree progress or on the reasons why some students stay and others leave before earning a degree. The purpose of this article is to present a model that links department and student characteristics, financial support, and student perceptions of the faculty with student grades, involvement in the program, satisfaction with the department, and alienation in order to predict progress toward the master's and doctoral degrees.

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