Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine if there were significant relationships between the degree of involvement in: (1) high school extracurricular activities, (2) college extracurricular plans, and (3) high school out-of-class accomplishments and matriculation at either a commuter or residential university.
The study sample included 541 freshmen students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and 575 freshmen students from the University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO). All the students were graduates of twelve Omaha area high schools.
Their responses to the Student Profile Section of the American College Testing Program Assessment were used to provide the basic data. At the time of completing the Assessment the students must have been under the age of nineteen, listed their university as their original first choice, and planned to enroll as full-time students. The students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) had to have listed residence halls or fraternity/sorority houses as their housing plans. The University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) students had to have listed off-campus room, apartment, own home, parents' or relative's home as their housing plans.
Three sections of the Student Profile Report were used in examination of the research hypotheses. These were: (1) high school extracurricular activities, (2) college extracurricular plans, and (3) high school out-of-class accomplishments. A hypothesis was formed for each section with the activity as the independent variable and the matriculation at either university as the dependent variable. ACT Composite scores and total family income were controlled to determine and counter effects on the research variables.
The Statistical Package for Social Services (SPSS) and Statistical Analysis System (SAS) were used to accomplish the statistical analysis of the sample data through the use of multiple regression.
The major findings were: (1) A significant statistical difference was found in the degree of participation in high school extracurricular activities between students who matriculated at the commuter university (UNO) and students who matriculated at the residential university (UNL). (2) A significant statistical difference was found in the degree of college extracurricular plans between students who matriculated at the commuter university (UNO) and students who matriculated at the residential university (UNL). (3) A significant statistical difference was found in the degree of high school out-of-class accomplishments between students who matriculated at the commuter university (UNO) and students who matriculated at the residential university (UNL).
