Relationship Between Admission Criteria and Program Completion in an Associate Degree Nursing Program: Improving the Identification of the Student at (Paperback)

Students enter colleges and universities with the expectation that they will attain the degree to which they aspire and graduate. Colleges and universities admit students they expect to be successful using research based academic predictors of success. Students who seek a degree from community colleges similarly enter with the expectation that they will be able to attain this goal. Community colleges, however, have open admissions and must work to make students successful despite their qualifications. Currently, community college graduation rates hover around 50%. One associate degree nursing program located in a large urban community college developed admission criteria in an attempt to increase program completion rates for students admitted to the program. Graduation rates remain low despite the initiation of admission criteria. This study will attempt to determine if a relationship between admission criteria and program completion can be determined through a retrospective data analysis beginning with students admitted in August 2001. If such a relationship can be realized it then could be used to identify the student at risk for program noncompletion and allow intervention with the student to increase the likelihood of program completion.