Nonmetropolitan students in higher education are an understudied population. This thesis uses data from the freshman class of 2011 at a mid-sized nonmetropolitan university to examine the success of nonmetro students at a nonmetro university. The data studied addresses the similarities and dissimilarities between metro and nonmetro students in the cohort in a number of categories: student location of origin, time to degree completion, whether a degree was attained, grade point average of graduating students, type of degree sought, and type of degree attained. Differences were found in the success rates of metro and nonmetro students at the institution. There was higher than the national average percentage of nonmetro students in the cohort. Nonmetro graduating grade point averages were not significantly different from metro student grade point averages. However, nonmetro students sought and obtained less bachelor’s degrees than metro students, a higher percentage of nonmetropolitan students than metro students did not finish a degree, and nonmetro students took longer to complete a degree than metro students.
","abstract_html":"<p>Nonmetropolitan students in higher education are an understudied population. This thesis uses data from the freshman class of 2011 at a mid-sized nonmetropolitan university to examine the success of nonmetro students at a nonmetro university. The data studied addresses the similarities and dissimilarities between metro and nonmetro students in the cohort in a number of categories: student location of origin, time to degree completion, whether a degree was attained, grade point average of graduating students, type of degree sought, and type of degree attained. Differences were found in the success rates of metro and nonmetro students at the institution. There was higher than the national average percentage of nonmetro students in the cohort. Nonmetro graduating grade point averages were not significantly different from metro student grade point averages. However, nonmetro students sought and obtained less bachelor’s degrees than metro students, a higher percentage of nonmetropolitan students than metro students did not finish a degree, and nonmetro students took longer to complete a degree than metro students. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Taylor, Janelle"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Education, Leadership and Public Service","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lisa Eckert"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:12Z","subjects":["rural","retention","nonmetro","student success","belonging","persistance","Higher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/564","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lisa Eckert"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Taylor, Janelle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-03-14T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education, Leadership and Public Service"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["rural","retention","nonmetro","student success","belonging","persistance","Higher Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/564"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Nonmetropolitan students in higher education are an understudied population. This thesis uses data from the freshman class of 2011 at a mid-sized nonmetropolitan university to examine the success of nonmetro students at a nonmetro university. The data studied addresses the similarities and dissimilarities between metro and nonmetro students in the cohort in a number of categories: student location of origin, time to degree completion, whether a degree was attained, grade point average of graduating students, type of degree sought, and type of degree attained. Differences were found in the success rates of metro and nonmetro students at the institution. There was higher than the national average percentage of nonmetro students in the cohort. Nonmetro graduating grade point averages were not significantly different from metro student grade point averages. However, nonmetro students sought and obtained less bachelor’s degrees than metro students, a higher percentage of nonmetropolitan students than metro students did not finish a degree, and nonmetro students took longer to complete a degree than metro students.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF METROPOLITAN AND NONMETROPOLITAN STUDENTS AT A NONMETROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lisa Eckert"],"dc:creator":["Taylor, Janelle"],"dc:date.available":["2019-03-14T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Nonmetropolitan students in higher education are an understudied population. This thesis uses data from the freshman class of 2011 at a mid-sized nonmetropolitan university to examine the success of nonmetro students at a nonmetro university. The data studied addresses the similarities and dissimilarities between metro and nonmetro students in the cohort in a number of categories: student location of origin, time to degree completion, whether a degree was attained, grade point average of graduating students, type of degree sought, and type of degree attained. Differences were found in the success rates of metro and nonmetro students at the institution. There was higher than the national average percentage of nonmetro students in the cohort. Nonmetro graduating grade point averages were not significantly different from metro student grade point averages. However, nonmetro students sought and obtained less bachelor’s degrees than metro students, a higher percentage of nonmetropolitan students than metro students did not finish a degree, and nonmetro students took longer to complete a degree than metro students.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/564"],"dc:subject":["rural","retention","nonmetro","student success","belonging","persistance","Higher Education"],"dc:title":["MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF METROPOLITAN AND NONMETROPOLITAN STUDENTS AT A NONMETROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education, Leadership and Public Service"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:12Z"}