Amaury Nora

• Doctorate in Higher Education
• Head of Faculty at The University of Texas at San Antonio

Guided by several theoretical approaches to student success, this study tested cognitive and non-cognitive variables including a set of background, financial, and psychosocial factors. Regression analysis revealed five foci predicted Latina/o student‘s sense of belonging at a Hispanic Serving Institution. These include (1) finances/financial aid, (...

This book is an essential resource that Latino/a students and families need to make the best decisions about entering and succeeding in a STEM career. It can also serve to aid faculty, counselors, and advisors to assist students at every step of entering and completing a STEM career. As a fast-growing, major segment of the U.S. population, the next...

A systematic review was conducted to produce an up-to-date and comprehensive summary of qualitative and quantitative evidence specific to the factors related to undergraduate Latina/o student academic success outcomes during college. The purpose of the study was to make sense of and provide critique to this rapidly growing body of research, as well...

As a great deal of importance is now placed on student engagement, it is just as imperative to establish the soundness of constructs underlying those survey instruments and benchmarks used in providing indicators of such. This study investigates the dimensionalities of student engagement among community college students as measured by the Community...

This study examined the impact of a set of theoretically-derived predictor variables on the persistence and transfer of Hispanic community college students. Early models of student persistence have been validated primarily among 4-year college students. While the constructs have been well-established, the relationships of those relevant factors rem...

This study examined the demographic, pre-college, environmental, and college factors that impact students' interests in and decisions to earn a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree among students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Results indicated that Hispanic students were well represented among STEM majors...

Substantial gaps exist in our knowledge base relative to understanding and serving the unique needs of Latina/Latino students in all areas of postsecondary education. More specifically, a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding both access and persistence of Hispanic students is needed. As such, the present article reviews and synthesizes th...

Much of what is known regarding student withdrawal from college is specific to students in a traditional classroom setting. A major issue is whether those same factors play themselves out in much the same manner in courses where technology plays a significant role in the delivery of instruction such as in distance learning programs where technology...

While e-learning, Web-enhanced instruction, and other forms of instructional technology have been touted as an effective way of addressing student withdrawal and academic performance, there are those (Carr, 2000) that report both program and end-of-semester course completion rates in distance education courses as merely acceptable compared to more...

Research on students’ adjustments to and persistence in college has focused on identifying specific factors and the interplay among those variables based on theoretical frameworks. These conceptualizations, however, have not gone without some degree of disparagement. At the center of this discussion is the argument that the underlying assumption am...

Mentoring benefits faculty members and institutions, but mentoring efforts are difficult to sustain. Measuring the domains of mentoring could focus efforts to achieve desired outcomes. This project investigated the factor structure of a "mentoring experiences" measurement instrument. A previously developed instrument was revised and distributed to...

Many students do not receive the adequate academic and social support during their enrollment in a higher education institution that could positively impact their abilities to succeed in college (Astin, 1984; Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Nora, 1987; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). These support systems can be viewed as providing a holistic mentoring expe...

This study used the NELS 88‑2000 data base to examine among Hispanic students precollege, college, and environmental predictors of (a) college first enrolled in (two‑year versus four‑year) and (b) undergraduate degree attainment for students who first enrolled in a two‑year or four‑year college. Hispanic students who attended a four-year college ri...

Research on financial assistance points out the impact of aid on academic achievement, educational commitments, student engagement, and persistence to graduation. What is more, the availability of funds to meet tuition and other college-going expenses not only bears on a student’s decision to attend college but also affects to a great extent the ch...

The authors provide a basic set of guidelines and recommendations for information that should be included in any manuscript that has confirmatory factor analysis or structural equation modeling as the primary statistical analysis technique. The authors provide an introduction to both techniques, along with sample analyses, recommendations for repor...

The authors provide a basic set of guidelines and recommendations for information that should be included in any manuscript that has confirmatory factor analysis or structural equation modeling as the primary statistical analysis technique. The authors provide an introduction to both techniques, along with sample analyses, recommendations for repor...

The Review of Higher Education 27.2 (2004) 287-288 Having engaged in the review of countless manuscripts, research proposals, books, etc., my first inclination was to identify those points made in the book that were strengths or weaknesses, positives or negatives. I finally came to the realization that the reason I found myself struggling with this...

The authors review the use and interpretations of path analyses in articles published in The Journal of Educational Research from 1992 to 2002 and discuss related issues. This article provides (a) a brief introduction to path analysis, (b) suggested guidelines and recommendations for reporting results, (c) a sample of a model path analysis, (d) eva...

The concept of fitting in at a particular college has been linked to student persistence. Studies have identified habitus and cultural capital, psychosocial factors associated with a student’s fit at a particular institution. This study examined the dimensions of precollege psychosocial factors, determined the extent to which those factors were ref...

In this special issue, we have sought to explore the strategies, programming, interventions, and policy decisions that institutions and communities use collaboratively as they attempt to cope with this educational crisis. Some of those strategies involve working with nontraditional constituencies such as parents or involve nontraditional and reform...

Using a sample of 2,050 second-year students at 23 institutions, researchers examined three issues: (a) gender and ethnic differences in terms of preferences towards collaborative learning, (b) the effects of collaborative learning on student outcomes, and (c) determinants of openness to diversity. Results showed that exposure to collaborative lear...

The purpose of this article is to provide a theoretical depiction of the interrelations between the three stages that reflect the “rites of passage” in Tinto's (1993) Student Integration Model and support and encouragement from significant others as represented in the Student Adjustment Model (Nora & Cabrera, 1996). Moreover, the article will depic...

This multi-institution, longitudinal study investigated relationships between various experiences in the second and third years of college and students' openness to diversity as well as challenges to their beliefs and attitudes. The strongest positive influences on openness to diversity and challenge were precollege openness to diversity, student p...

Financial assistance to college students increased from a meager $557 million in 1963-1964 (Lewis 1989) to a phenomenal $55.7 billion in 1996-1997 ("Average Cost of Tuition" 1997). Because of the enormity of this investment it is not surprising that a single policy question-How do prices and student subsidies influence the ability of students to pe...

F inancial assistance to college students increased from a meager $557 million in 1963-1964 (Lewis 1989) to a phenomenal $55.7 billion in 1996-1997 ("Average Cost of Tuition" 1997). Because of the enormity of this investment it is not surprising that a single policy question-How do prices and student subsidies influence the ability of students to p...

Recent international comparisons show that themathematics achievement of American students is belowthe international average. In response to thissituation, the present study compared first-year college students enrolled in remedial-type mathematicscourses with their counterparts enrolled in nonremedialcoursework. Findings include that students enro...

This study sought to determine if the average level of student critical thinking at a college (i.e., the institutional context) influenced individual students' critical thinking skills. Analyses were based on data from 23 highly diverse two- and four-year institutions participating in the National Study of Student Learning with controls for 15 pote...

This study examined the impact of prejudice and discrimination on the adjustment of students to college. Results indicated perceived discriminatory behavior negatively affected minority student academic/intellectual development, social experiences, and institutional commitment. Although differential effects were noted for minority and non-minoritie...

Extends previous research, which investigated relationships between female students' perceptions of a "chilly campus climate" and cognitive outcomes in the first year of college, by examining those relationships through the junior year. Results, implications, and limitations of the study are discussed. (Author/GCP)

Controlling for precollege aptitude and other influences, male intercollegiate football and basketball players tended to have significantly lower levels of second-year writing skills and of third-year critical thinking and reading comprehension than did nonathletes or athletes in other sports. There was little evidence to suggest broad-based negati...

This longitudinal investigation of 23 colleges and universities sought to estimate the impacts of on- and off-campus work on standardized measures of student cognitive development across three years of college. With controls made for student background characteristics and other experiences of college, there was little evidence to suggest that eithe...

This study examined possible solutions to the paradox faced by college administrators as they try to increase diversity in the student body while minimizing tensions. The study used 1994 data on 2,050 second-year college students from the National Study of Student Learning, a longitudinal investigation of factors influencing student learning and de...

In this study researchers tested the hypothesis that community college attendance lowers students' precollege plans to obtain a bachelor of arts degree. In the presence of controls for precollege plans, other background factors, and college academic and nonacademic experiences, community college students initially planning to obtain a bachelor of a...

Explores nontraditional associating factors for accruement of mathematical skills during the first year of college using a model for calculating mathematics gain that controlled for ceiling effects and nonlinearity. A nationally representative sample of first-year college students was tested by gender and ethnicity. There were marked differences in...

In this study of 2- and 4-year colleges, the extent to which women students' perceptions of a "chilly campus climate" were related to first-year cognitive outcomes was investigated at 23 institutions. After a variety of potentially confounding influences were controlled for, several negative relationships were found between perceived chilly climate...

This study sought to determine the extent to which students' development of internal locus of attribution for academic success during the first year of college was influenced by institutional characteristics, students' academic experiences, and their social/nonacademic experiences. The sample was 2,392 first-year students attending 23 diverse two-...

The authors discuss current admissions criteria, their validity in predicting graduate student success, and a potentially more effective model for predicting the success of various graduate student clienteles, including women, minorities, and older students. Innovative admissions criteria are also considered.

A three-year study of 1,061 White undergraduates at 17 U.S. colleges and universities indicated that women and students in relatively liberal majors started college with more favorable attitudes toward diversity on campus than men and students in relatively conservative majors. Although students in conservative majors were less likely to participat...

The results of the study indicated that institutional experiences, academic achievement, and environmental pull factors contributed the most to persistence decisions. Furthermore, analyses revealed that differences in the effects of these factors for different ethnic and gender groups were important in explaining persistence decisions. No precolleg...

Annual earnings continue to be unequal across gender and racial lines. One reason for this disparity is occupational segregation, the overrepresentation of women and minorities in lower-paying jobs and occupations. This study involved an investigation of what could be considered the roots of subsequent occupational segregation among male and female...

The article describes a longitudinal and multi-institutional investigation of a national sample of first-year students that studies the cognitive effects of Greek affiliation during the first year of college.

This study investigated the influence on critical thinking of differential exposure to postsecondary education. The sample was 2,076 first-year students attending 13 four-year and 4 two-year institutions from around the country. First-year students attending college full-time developed a higher level of critical thinking skills than those attending...

This multi-institutional study sought to determine the factors influencing students' openness to diversity and challenge during the first year of college. Controlling for student background characteristics and other confounding influences, a nondiscriminatory racial environment, on-campus residence, participation in a racial or cultural awareness w...

This longitudinal study examined the role of perceptions of prejudice-discrimination on collegiate experiences and on college-related outcomes among minority and nonminority students at a public, predominately white, commuter institution. Results indicated that minorities were more prone to feel discrimination and prejudice while on campus than wer...

This study sought answers to three questions: (1) Do the precollege characteristics of first-generation students differ from those of traditional students? (2) Do first-generation students' college experiences differ from those of other students? (3) What are the educational consequences of any differences on first-year gains in students' reading,...

This text is a resource on racial and ethnic diversity for faculty and students in higher education. It is organized in sections related to the history of racial and ethnic diversity in higher education, curriculum and teaching, students, faculty, administration, leadership and governance, and research issues. The chapters are: (1) "History of Amer...

Controlling for such factors as precollege cognitive ability and academic motivation, ethnicity, gender, exposure to college, work responsibilities, and the pattern of courses taken, students reporting that the first-year instruction they received was well organized and prepared tended to demonstrate greater general cognitive development than their...

This study represents the first published investigation into the construct validity of goal commitment as it affects the persistence process. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that goal commitment could be decomposed into multiple indicators of the same latent construct: a special factor called goal commitment that groups items related to goal...

Controlling for precollege aptitude and other influences, male intercollegiate football and basketball players demonstrated net freshman-year declines in reading and mathematics while nonathletes and athletes in other sports showed modest net gains. Female athletes made smaller net gains in reading than nonathletes, but the effect depended upon pre...

This study investigated the freshman-year cognitive impacts of five 2-year and six 4-year colleges drawn from all sections of the United States. Controlling for individual precollege ability, there was a general parity between 2-year and 4-year college students on end-of-freshman year reading comprehension, mathematics, critical thinking, and compo...

This study estimates the relative and unique effects on changes in critical thinking of three dimensions of students' college experience: curricular exposure, formal classroom and instructional experiences, and out-of-class experiences. Students' classroom/instructional and out-of-class experiences both make positive, statistically significant, and...

This investigation compared the impacts of 2‐year and 4‐year colleges on learning orientations. Controlling for precollege learning orientations, academic aptitude, age, work, place of residence, and enrollment status, this study found no significant differences between 2‐ and 4‐year students in freshman‐year effects on enjoyment of diversity and i...

Estimated the effects of on- and off-campus employment on measures of cognitive development in 210 1st-yr undergraduates. Ss completed measures of reading comprehension, mathematics, and critical thinking in the Fall of 1991 and in the Spring of 1992. Although more than 10 hrs of on-campus work had a significant negative relation to reading compreh...

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1993 Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Partial support for this study was provided by a SUNY‐Albany faculty‐ln‐aid grant given to the first author. Special thanks go to Dr. W. Paul Vogt for his Invaluable comments and suggestions.

The use of structural modeling to study graduate education and address policy questions is discussed. The method is illustrated in a step-by-step example.

The present study examined the underlying structure of the variable Institutional Commitment by testing for the convergence, or lack thereof, among different indicators of the construct as represented by three theoretical frameworks (Tinto, 1975, 1987; Bean, 1985; Huselid and Day, 1991). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that Institutional Comm...

Cabrera, Castaneda, Nora, and Hengstler [18] found considerable overlap between Tinto's [50, 52] and Bean's [4, 5, 7] models of student attrition. This study integrated the major propositions underlying both theoretical frameworks. Findings supported most of the hypothesized links and uncovered that environmental factors play a far more complex rol...

The advantages of using structural equation modeling to study graduate student progress are discussed and the method is illustrated by a study of graduate student progress

Although several theories have been advanced to explain the college persistence process [6, 39, 44, 46], the two theories that provide a more comprehensive theoretical framework on college departure decisions are Tinto's [44, 46] Student Integration Model and Bean's [5] Model of Student Departure [18]. These two theories have re-ceived considerable...

The study empirically examined the role of finances on college persistence by presenting a causal model that relied on several theoretical frameworks. A quantitative model was tested via linear structural equations for categorical data that incorporated constructs from the financial aid literature as well as the persistence literature. The research...

This study tested a structural equation model of enrollment patterns of white and Hispanic males and females in two-year institutions and the invariance of parameter estimates among the different subgroups in the study. The model represented a multiequation model with three latent endogenous variables, high school academic preparation in mathematic...

Employing aspects of Tinto''s (1975, 1987) theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to test a model of student transfer behaviors and attitudes with a community college student population. More specifically, this study examined the structural relationships among five constructs: (1) student background factors, (2) initial commitments, (...

Few studies have assessed the impact of campus-based resources on student persistence, and none have tested causal models on Hispanic community college students in which aspects of financial aid have been included. This study tested a structural equation model of retention for a Hispanic two-year college student population to determine the direct,...

In a study of the accuracy of Tinto's model of student attrition among 253 underprepared community college students, 4 exogenous variables (family background, precollege schooling, getting ready, and encouragement from significant others), 3 endogenous variables (initial commitment, academic integration, and social integration), and previously unqu...

Reviews the literature for empirical evidence of the impact of financial assistance on minority participation and retention in higher education. Recommends further research on minority subgroups in varied institutional settings in diverse geographic areas. (FMW)

To gauge the attitudes of university faculty concerning the effect of corporate funding on campus research norms, we conducted a study of research faculty in Texas, employing the theoretical framework proposed by Alvin Gouldner. Gouldner theorized that the most privileged academics hold the most conservative social and academic views. In his view,...

In response to concerns about the loss of effectiveness of the community college transfer function, this paper examines the steady decline in rates of minority student transfer from two- to four-year colleges and offers policy recommendations for facilitating transfer and baccalaureate degree attainment. Initial sections review data showing the dis...

At each education juncture, a significant number of Hispanic students drop out. Efforts must focus on improving rates of high school graduation, community college transfer, and student retention. Intervention strategies include dropout prevention, financial aid and college program, and exposure to fields in which they are underrepresented. (MLW)

This study tested a modified version of Tinto's student attrition model on a Chicano student population in two-year colleges. Structural equation modeling and LISREL VI were used to examine the parameter estimates of the structural and measurement models of the hypothesized causal model. Measures of goodness of fit were examined to provide indices...

This study examined relationships between peer interactions and cognitive outcomes during college. Study participants were students at 23 colleges and universities; outcomes included standardized test scores and self-reported gains. Peer interactions included course-related and non-course-related activities, occurring inside and outside classroom s...

Investigated the relative freshman-year cognitive impacts on Black students of 2 historically Black and 16 predominantly White colleges. Students participated in the National Study of Student Learning and completed a precollege survey and Form 88A of the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency. Controlling for individual precollege ability, a...

The Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (S. A. Rathus, 1973), Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (G. M. Jenson, 1991; M. Sherer & J. E. Maddux, 1982), The Inventory for Student Adjustment Strain (S. L. Crano & W. D. Crano, 1993), and UCLA Loneliness Scale (D. W. Russell, 1996) were used to examine a total of 122 graduate international students (aged 21-47 yrs)...

Examined the relative importance of 3 theoretically interrelated sets of variables (curricular experiences, formal instructional experiences and classroom-related contacts with faculty members, and out-of-class experiences with faculty, peers, and the formal co-curriculum) on changes in college students' orientations toward learning for self-unders...

Summarizes findings from the 1st year of the federally funded 3-yr longitudinal National Study of Student Learning begun in 1992. 18 4-yr and 5 2-yr postsecondary predominantly White or historically Black colleges participated. Focus was on the influence of academic and nonacademic experiences on student learning, attitudes about learning, cognitiv...

Thesis (M.S.)--Texas A & I University, 1973. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-35).