Descriptive summary of 1989-90 beginning postsecondary students, 5 years later : with an essay on postsecondary persistence and attainment

Abstract

During the 1989-90 academ ic year, approxim ately 2.6 million students enrolled in postsecondary education for the first tim e.1 A sam ple of these students was selected for the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study?. The sam pled students were interviewed three times: at the end of their first year in 1990, in the spring of 1992, and in the spring of 1994. This essay describes the educational experiences of these first-tim e beginners over the 5-year period, focusing on their persistence in postsecondary education and their attainm ent of any degrees or certificates at the baccalaureate level or below. There are m any different ways of measuring persistence and attainm ent.3 In this essay the subject will be approached from four different perspectives: 1) overall persistence in postsecondary education; 2) institutional retention; 3) persistence tow ard degree objectives; and 4) persistence toward the bachelor’s degree at 4-year institutions. Each of these approaches results in different levels of persistence and attainm ent rates.