Late Registration:

Bane or Benefit

What the Research Says

Patrick Tompkins, JTCC

New Horizons Conference

Roanoke, VA

April 4, 2013

Pa

rtic

ipa

nts

will…

R

ese

arc

h Q

ue

stio

ns

Propose definitions of late registration (LR)

Discuss the teleology of late registration

Review the purpose of the presentation

and the taxonomy of the literature review

Evaluate the evidence and suggest

policy implications

What is the incidence of LR?

Who registers late and why?

How well do LR perform (grades, class

completion, withdrawal)?

What conclusions have researchers

proffered?

Context

O’Banion (2012)

› LR “wreaks havoc on the ability of colleges

to achieve the goals of the emerging

completion agenda”…evidence is “overwhelming”(pp. 26, 28)

Roueche (2011)

› “There is a lot of data showing that students

who enroll late have three times the dropout

or three times the failure rate” of OTR. (The SOURCE, 2011, p. 6)

Te

leo

log

y o

f LR

Be

ne

fit

Ba

ne

Access

FTEs

Choice

Responsiveness

Flexibility

Chaos

Costs

Lost first day of class

Student success: grades, retention,

awards/transfer

Ethics

bre

wb

oo

ks

Context Colleges are eliminating LR, including

Miami-Dade CC, Rio Salado College,

Sinclair CC, Valencia College

What

about

your

college?

Ben

war

ds

Taxonomy of the Literature Review (Cooper & Hedges, 2009)

Characteristic Approach

Foci Research methods; findings

Goals Integration; identification of central issues

Perspective Neutral representation

Coverage Exhaustive

Organization Conceptual

Audience General scholars, policy makers, practitioners

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

Quantitative and/or

qualitative

Dissertations, articles,

publicly available

presentations and

reports

Studies of patterns,

attitudes, and/or

performance

26 + 2 =

Leo Reynolds

Brainstorm LR Definitions

Goals

› Concise

› Measureable

› Precise

› Valid

› Universal

hiromy

LR definitions

1 week before classes?

On or after semester start date (N=12)

LR for all classes (N=19)

After the 8th day of classes?

After first class meeting (N=3)

LR for single classes (N=9)

Study Designs

Mostly CC’s (N=21)

Size: from 6 to 260,000 › General or

specific

Unequal sample sizes

Small subgroups

Semester

Year

Longitudinal

7 and 14 year retrospectives

Population Time Frames

Student (N=20)

Course

enrollment

(N=6)

N/A (N=2)

Unit of Analysis

tmorkemo

Analytic Methods

Significance testing vs. Raw numbers / percentages

T-test, chi-square, ANOVA, multiple regression, logistic regression

Course grade vs. GPA

Rate of LR course completion vs. rate of all course completion

Fre

qu

en

cy

of O

cc

urr

en

ce

LR f

or

ev

ery

cla

ss

LR f

or

an

y c

lass

11 Studies*

Range: 4-17%

Mean: 8.3%

4 studies

Range: 3-27%

Mean: 14.4%

In general

National data:

11% of students

for at least one

class (Center,

2012)

Most do not

continually LR

(Mendiola-

Perez, 2004)

* Excludes Zottos’ (2005) extreme value of 54%.

Which Courses?

Who?

Number of studies finding demographic

associations

Male Race/

Ethnicity

Part-

time

Older Low HS

GPA

Yes 9 7 7 5 3

No 5 4 1 6 N/A

Reasons

Schedule conflicts: 46%

Paperwork

Medical

Finances

Employment

Transportation

Life

Advising problems

Instructor problems

Class too hard

Procrastination

Late decision to go to college

Recent relocation

Class cancellations

Personal convenience: 4%

Most Common Other

(Belcher & Patterson, 1990; Chilton, 1964; Keck, 2007; Morris, 1986; Parks, 1974)

Positive Motivators Family encouragement / career goals

Consultations with faculty and advisors

“Individual background and determination to complete”

Avoid online courses / courses with weak background

Avoid LR if possible

“A viable and critical option”(emphasis added)

Satisfied with decision (Keck, 2007, pp. 126, 132)

Ho

w W

ell?

Gra

de

s

LR C

ou

rse

Gra

de

SG

PA

/CG

PA

Negative: 2 studies

› Greater effect for upper

collegiate rank, and large

classes

No Sig.: 2 studies

Negative: 4 studies; Mixed: 7 studies

Demographics removed or diminished effects

Worse for returning students? For freshman?

More likely 4.0 GPA & more likely 0.0 GPA

No effect for class switches; > class adds

increased GPA; > class drops lowered GPA

Ho

w W

ell? S

uc

ce

ss R

ate

*

LR C

ou

rse

A

ll C

ou

rse

s

Positive: 2 studies

No Sig.: 1 study

Negative: 1 study

Negative: 5 studies

Weak: 2 studies

No Sig: 2 studies

No sig. for new students; negative for continuing students

Weak negative effect, but also more likely to complete 100% of courses

Other variations by demographics

*Set at “C” level by some, “D” level by others.

How Well? Withdrawal/Attrition

Negative: Keck, 2007

Large classes only: Safer 2009

Restrictive attendance policy only: Diekhoff, 1992

Developmental ENG only: Sova, 1986

Negative: Parks, 1974

No sig.: Chilton, 1964

Slight: 2 studies

Mixed: Mendiola-Perez, 2004

LR Course Rate 100% of courses

Negative: 4

studies

No sig.: 2 studies

All Course Rate

What do you conclude?

Tama Leaver

Warrant for these claims?

O’Banion (2012)

› LR “wreaks havoc on

the ability of

colleges to achieve

the goals of the

emerging

completion

agenda”…evidence

is “overwhelming”(pp. 26,

28)

Roueche (2011)

› “There is a lot of

data showing that

students who enroll

late have three

times the dropout or

three times the

failure rate” of OTR. (The SOURCE, 2011, p. 6)

What have researchers concluded?

Policy recommendations, number of studies*

Ban LR Maybe Ban LR

Ban LR

for Some

No

Change / Keep LR

Modify Policies

None/Unclear

2 4 3 5 17 6

Researchers may have made recommendations that fell into more than one category. Each recommendation was counted separately.

Warranted Actions

1) Conduct research on local level, and on

specific courses, subpopulations, etc.

2) Employ robust research methods

3) Create early registration culture

4) Develop rolling schedules/late start courses

5) Target support for LR students

6) Tailor LR policies as/where needed

7) Study effect of banning LR on access,

enrollment, revenues, and student success

Images from flickr

brewbooks, xerophyllum tenax (Beargrass), (Teleology slide)

Benwards, Teleology, (Context slide)

Leo Reynolds, Bingo Number 28, (Inclusion/exclusion slide)

hiromy, Using chopsticks, (LR definitions slide)

tmorkemo, Sammenligning av tommestokker, (Study designs slide)

inju, Statistics for the Utterly Confused (Analytic methods slide)

Tama Leaver, Warhold Thinker by Macbook, (What do you conclude slide)

Sources

Angelo, D. T. (1990). The relationship between late registration and student persistence and achievement. College and University, 65(4), 316-27. (EJ413486)

Belcher, M. J., & Patterson, C. (1990). Who are late registrants and what will they do when faced with a late registration fee? Miami-Dade Community College, Office of Institutional Research. ERIC document. (ED328324)

Bryant, D., Danley, J. Fleming, S, & Somers, P. (1996). “The dog ate it” and other reasons why students delay registration. College and University, 71(4), 2-8.

Center for Community College Student Engagement. (2012). A matter of degrees: Promising practices for community college student success (A first look). Austin, TX: The University of Texas at Austin, Community College Leadership Program.

Chilton, B. S. (1964). The relationship between certain factors of late and regular registrants. (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (UMI No. 6410743)

Cooper, H., & Hedges, L.V. (2009). Research synthesis as a scientific process. In H. Cooper, L. V. Hedges, & J. C. Valentine (eds.). The handbook of research synthesis (2nd ed., pp. 1-16). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Cornille, K. T. (2009). The impact of late registration on academic success and persistence of students at a community and technical college. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (UMI No. 3419827)

Diekhoff, G. M. (1992). Late registrants: At risk in introductory psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 19(1), 49-50.

Dunn, H. & Mays, A. (2004, January 5). Better for the change. Community College Week, 16(11), 4-5.

Hale, J. M. (2007). The impact of timing of registration on student learning outcomes at three rural community colleges. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (UMI No. 3338098)

Hiller, D. (2005). Late registrants: They are prepared and they do come back if successful. Retrieved from Northwestern Michigan College Institutional Research, Organizational Intelligence, Research and Analyses website: https://www.nmc.edu/ir/intell/analysis

Johnston, G. H. (2006). Date of enrollment as a predictor of success and persistence. Paper presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), Chicago, IL, May 14-18, 2006. ERIC document. ED493834

Sources

Keck, K. (2007). Community college retention: The role of late registration policies. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (UMI No. 3275960).

Mannan, G., & Preusz, G. C. (1976). University late registrants and related academic problems. College Student Journal, 10(4), 375-379.

McWaine, W. L. (2012). Late registration and African American males' academic performance in a suburban community college system. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (UMI No. 3502713)

Mendiola-Perez, C. L. (2004). The effects of early, regular, and late registration on academic success and retention of community college students. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (UMI No. 3124331)

Moore, C, & Shulock, N. (2007). Beyond the open door: Increasing student success in the California Community Colleges. Sacramento: California State University.

Morris, E. W. (1986). A study of changes of registration by adding and dropping classes. College and University, 61(4), 327-37.

Neighbors, J. E. G. (1996). The impact of early, regular, and late registration on students at three Texas colleges. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. (AAT 9724620)

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