Nontraditional Student Attrition

Bean and Metzner, in their article titled "A Conceptual Model of Nontraditional Undergraduate Student Attrition," speak to the factors why nontraditional students drop out of school. They write about the rise in the enrollments of nontraditional students, define the nontraditional student, and develop a model of attrition for these students. As I was reading and highlighting, I made notes in the margins at certain parts of the text.

On page 495, I made a note saying, "My time at OU as a commuter student." This note is in reference to the authors stating, "Commuters generally have fewer friends at college, less contact with faculty members outside of class, and less participation in extracurricular activities. Chickering and Kuper (1971), however, found little difference between residential and commuter students regarding academic activities, such as experiences in the classroom or time spent preparing assignments."

My time at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan encompassed my freshmen and sophomore years of post-secondary education. It was a compromise between my parents and myself for the lack money to attend my first choice of schools, Michigan State University. I lived at home, commuted to the campus every day (14 miles away), worked 25-30 hours a week, and took 15 credits a semester. I had two friends from high school that also attended OU and saw them often. However, I did not, to my recollection make any other friends in the 2 years that I attend the institution. How could I? I did not get involved with any student groups, although I contemplated rushing a sorority my first semester until I figured out it wasn't for me. My time between classes was spent studying in the campus student center or sleeping to make up for time lost at night to my job. I did however participate in some student culture in the form of parties in one of the 4 residence halls on campus. One of my above mentioned friends chose to live in the dorms instead of commute from her parents house in Madison Heights, so I would spend time with her on the weekends after work. Despite limited involvement in student activities outside of parties, I succeeded in getting good grades. At the same time that I attended OU, I took two classes at Macomb Community College, creative writing and algebra/trigonometry, to add to my credits. The entire time I was attending both institutions, I was preparing myself to transfer to Michigan State University. I did not declare a major. I cross-checked my credits with MSU's requirements each semester. I did not see an advisor. I felt like a temporary visitor for two years with no loyalty or desire to remain at Oakland University. I was just passing through.

"Several investigators (Chickering, 1974; Chickering & Kuper, 1971; Fenske & Scott, 1972) found that commuter students frequently possessed lower high school rank, grade averages , and scores on test of academic ability than residential students." (p.496) My note in the margin next to this quote taken from the section on High School Academic Performance said, "Not me." I was 30th in the high school class of 232 academically, graduated with a 3.7 G.P.A. and my ACT, although not great, was a 23. Again, I simply went to Oakland University because I had to for reasons outside of academic credentials or ability. My intent to leave was determined even before I set foot on campus in the fall of 1990.