The Eight Factors

The following eight factors have been shown to be essential to academic aptitude, and are the measurements for the College Success Factors Index (CSFI) and the School Success Factors Index (SSFI).  The eight factors are Responsibility vs. Control, Competition, Task Precision, Expectations, Wellness, Time Management, College Involvement, and Family Involvement.

Responsibility Vs. Control: College success is often measured by a process requiring a gradual increase in responsibility year by year and an acceptance by the student that he has increasing control over his academic success. School assignments are first required by the teacher to train the student to take responsibility. Gaining responsibility during their freshman year accounted for over 33% of the critical events by college students, and "being on my own" appears the most critical (Straub, 1987).

The ultimate goal of this process is for the student to assume responsibility intrinsically. For example, when a student says, "I should have known that," or "It's my job to get my homework in on time", he is identifying responsibility and his need to be in control. Unlike upper classmen, freshman believe that their instructors have more of an influence over their performance than is warranted (Schmelzer & Schmelzer, 1987).

Understanding and meeting responsibilities is an important predictor of success in college. In a study it was found the best predictor of success was the student's perception of the college's expectations of academic performance (Kelly, 1982).

Taking responsibility for one's success must be coupled with taking control. Knowing expectations and taking the necessary control to get them accomplished may be two different things. Those in control of events often find the event motivated them to try harder or to put it another way, involved students like to be in control (Madden, et al, 1987).

Involvement and control seem to go hand in hand. For example, Astin states, "It seems clear that the effectiveness of any attempt to increase student involvement is highly contingent on the student's perceived locus of control" (Astin, 1984).

Further, people who control outcomes have a greater satisfaction with the circumstances of their environment (Langer, 1983). While freshman believe their instructors had more control over their performance, upper classmen learned to rely more on themselves and their peers for success (Schmelzer, et al, 1987).

Competition: The need to compete is natural to most of us. Our society is individualistically orientated, rewarding those who excel beyond their peers. To fit into the fabric of our society, one needs a competitive nature in college. Getting an "A" on a test represents this phenomenon, as does further competing and excelling in extra-curricular activities. Astin found both content and resources approaches to pedagogy tend to favor the academically prepared, assertive student and he further warns "… passivity is an important warning sign that may reflect the lack of involvement" (Astin, 1984).

A study of university students' stress indicated that competition was the highest stress area. Competition stress averaged one-half standard deviation above the mean of the overall norming population of 4,000 adults in 26 occupations (Nannini, Hallberg, Sauer, 1988).

College success as a manifestation of the culture's socialization process places competition high on the list of necessary factors. From the "paper chase" to the Dean's list, competition permeates our entire academic fabric. Vincent Tinto reflects on this factor when he writes "…in the final analysis, it is the interplay between the individual's commitment to the goal of college competition and his commitment to the institution, that determines whether or not the individual decides to drop out of college" (Tinto, 1975). 

Task Precision: College success is partially defined by producing a series of class projects or tasks. Expecting to do well at a task in the academic environment is directly related to persistence within the institution (Bucklin & Bucklin, 1970, Coker, 1968, Medsker & Trent, 1968). 

Commitment to task seems to be quite important. For example, lower achievers lack persistence and conscientiousness in study skills (Mitchell & Piatrowska, 1980). Some researchers feel the learning environment must receive sufficient student effort and investment of energy to bring about the desired learning and development (Astin, 1974).

"The closer I follow the assignment with accuracy, the higher the grade I'll earn" is an example of an often-repeated belief of university students. Reflecting a strong project/goal orientation and a need to complete the task in a near perfect manner are the most important success characteristics of this criterion. Tinto has said, "other things being equal, one would anticipate goal commitment to be directly related to persistence in college" (Tinto, 1975). Task and goal orientation in relationship to "high certainty of selection of a major" appeared as a factor of persistence three times higher than in "low certainty major selection" (Titley &Titley, 1980). But attainment of goals is not only related to academic expectations, it is highly related to future occupational goals (Spaeth, 1970).

If one of the purposes of higher education is to socialize the student into a highly technical culture, then precision is a value of college success. For example, lower division grade success requires equally important perfection in spelling and grammar content master (Hallberg, 1988). Few would argue that being correct in freshman mathematics or English courses has a high correlation with grade performance. Math grades are earned by "number correct" and in English essays, two grades are given - one is for content and style while the second grade is given for perfection in language usage.

Moreover, grade success is often assessed on the basis of following directions well and the elimination of errors. In one study of freshman students' persistence and active study, reported goal setting and time management related closely to success (Schmelzer, et al 1987).

Expectations: Successful students have their own goals and expectations related to assignments, areas of study and future careers (Lunneborg & Lunnegorg, 1976).

Success in school is also generated by one's own demand to seek and discover new and challenging experiences. This seeking is combined with setting one's own discovery course, instead of merely "taking in" what is offered by instructors. Lack of flexibility was found to be characteristic of drop-outs (Jones, 1955; Lavin, 1965). One needs to be partially conformist and partially experimental in thinking. For example, college seniors tend to integrate more diversity and relativism into their lives and accept more ambiguity than freshman (Perry, 1970). Researchers working with the Omnibus Personality Inventory included a scale of complexity as a part of an experimental and flexible orientation. This is an important part of "intellectual disposition" (Heist, 1964). Attaining goals and expectations and a relative posture towards knowledge development appears a necessary characteristic to success (Schmidt, 1985, Jones 1955; Lavin, 1965).

Wellness: Behavioral symptoms such as constant stress, sleeplessness, poor nutrition, or depression are often a deterrent to college success. While these symptoms are characteristics of many psychological states, as well as diseases, detrimental symptomatology may also become relational avoidance (Rich & Slovel, 1978). Depression, anxiety, and stress have been known to impede school and college success. Burnout appears important as a factor in student attrition (Pantages & Creedon, 1974).

Time Management: Time is an American cultural value. From being on time to using one's time efficiently, time tends to be an ingredient in how successful we will be in college. Time has become a measuring stick of our worth or an end in itself. Efficiency in our culture is inseparable from time. Planning ahead and determining time constraints in completing assignments successfully is important in a highly technical culture. "Getting my work in on time" has a direct bearing on grades and graduation. Lewin (1936) found time and success were complimentary qualities between person and environment.

Astin (1984) even goes further when he states, "Most precious institutional resource may be student time," and further he points out "Success on course work is a function of time." Schmelzer & Schmelzer (1987) further demonstrated this relationship between time management and course success.

College Involvement: A strong correlation between college involvement and success can be found. College involvement can be characterized in several ways, such as living on campus, part-time campus jobs (Astin, 1984), through friendship support (Bern et al, 1966; Scott, 1971), from extra-curricular activities (Wolford, 1964; Bernis, 1967; Spady, 1971), and from college faculty interaction (Rock, 1971; Spady, 1970). Campus involvement on the art of the student not only relates to academic success, but also to identity achievement (Weston & Stein) and general satisfaction with the academic experience (Witt & Handal, 1984). Lack of involvement seems to be a negative influence. Students who lacked involvement appeared powerless and used by others for purposes other than their own (Seaman, 1959).

The importance of involvement within the campus to success is best summed up by Vincent Tinto (1975): "Instance of social integration occurs primarily through informal peer group associations, semi-formal extra-curricular activities and interaction with faculty and administrative personnel with in the college. Successful encounters in these areas result in various degrees of social communication, friendship support, faculty support, and college affiliation. Each of which can be viewed as important social rewards that become part of a person's generalized evaluation of the costs and benefits of college attendance."

Family Involvement: The encouragement of the college freshman and/or participation of one's family in college appears to be an important factor in the student's success in college. Graduates of universities notes that their families "just assumed" they would graduate. Family expectations of success may be as important as student's own expectations (Hackman & Dysinger, 1970). College persisters are more likely to come from families who parents are more educated (Chase, 1970; Cope & Hewitt, 1970; and Spady, 1971). College persisters get more parental advice, praise, and expressed interest (Trent & Ryle, 1965).

Parental feelings that "getting and education is important," being proud when showing one's report card to parents," and "discussing future careers with one's family" are important factors in the equation of college success and persistence (Lunneborg & Lunneborg, 1976). The higher the father's level of occupation and mother's educational level the more likely is college student persistence (Metsker & Trent, 1968). The number of books in the home, sibling educational attainment, as well as parental expectations have shown to add to college success (Metsker & Trent, Scope Study, 1968).  

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