Four Critical Years

Dr. Alexander W. Astin (born May 30, 1932, Washington, D.C.) is the Allan M. Cartter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Higher Education and Organizational Change, at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is founding director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. He has served as Director of Research for both the American Council on Education and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. He is also the founding director of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, an ongoing national study of some fifteen million students, 300,000 faculty and staff, and 1,800 higher education institutions.

• Preface ixThe Author xvI Studying College Impact 1II Attitudes, Beliefs, and Self-Concept 31III Patterns of Behavior 72IV Competency and Achievement 100V Career Development 134VI Satisfaction wuth the College Environment 164VII Permanence of College Effects 188VIII Summary of Effects 211IX Implications for Policy and Practice 242Appendix: A Note on Measurement Error 263References 273Index 285