6/15/12 8:05 PM Assessing Student Retention in Online Learning Environments: A Longitudinal Study Page 1 of 8 http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer152/boston_ice_burgess152.html Assessing Student Retention in Online Learning Environments: A Longitudinal Study Wallace Boston American Public University System wboston@apus.edu Phil Ice American Public University System pice@apus.edu Melissa Burgess American Public University System mburgess@apus.edu Abstract In their initial study, authors Boston, Ice, and Gibson (2011) explored the relationship between student demographics and interactions, and retention at a large online university. Participants in the preliminary study (n = 20,569) included degree-seeking undergraduate students who completed at least one course at the American Public University System (APUS) in 2007. Two notable findings from the study were (1) the importance of transfer credit, and (2) the consistency of activity in predicting continued enrollment. Interestingly, the latter finding was confirmed upon the analysis of longitudinal data from the current study. Further related to the latter finding-yet unexpected, was the existence of new literature that, although subtle, affirms the importance for online institutions to conduct ongoing research on these topics. Readers of the current study are encouraged to refer to the preliminary study toward a comprehensive understanding of these nuances. Though informative, the researchers wished to validate the original study findings through longitudinal evaluation of retention. The Preliminary Study vs. Current Study: An Overview Student enrollment and academic achievement data were analyzed using forward method linear regression resulting in the emergence of six predictors of student disenrollment. These predictors included: (1) no transfer credit received by the student; (2) the total number of registrations/courses previously taken; (3) last grade student received was an F; (4) last grade student received was a W; (5) student GPA (3.01 – 3.99); and (6) GPA (2.01 – 3.00.) Although the current study methodologically replicates the 2011 study, the literature review has been updated to reflect current research; and the study itself includes the analyses of data that spanned a five-year period (2006-2010); thereby increasing the number of participants (n = 199,731). The Study and Its Context Setting The researchers in this study revisited current definitions of academic preparedness and non-traditional students within the context of online institutional programs, as suggested by Simpson (2003), toward gleaning a snapshot of their own institutional retention characteristics. Gilbert (2000) furthered this notion that policy and/or program improvement should be informed at the individual, course, program, institutional, or systems