Abstract

The relationship between non-traditional (a.k.a. non- cognitive) admissions criteria and graduation rates of radiography students was investigated. The population for this study included all radiography program directors responsible for accredited programs in the United States and Puerto Rico (N = 618). All programs are required to maintain records on retention in accordance with the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT) (n.d.). A total of 737 radiography programs are recognized by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) and of the 737 programs, 618 are programmatically accredited by the JRCERT. Of the 618 programs accredited, the institutions offer either an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, or are considered certificate programs.

Two-year programs that utilized non-traditional admissions criteria had higher graduation rates. Ad- mission criteria such as the use of prerequisite courses were positively related to student persistence to program completion, while criteria such as departmental observations were not. These conclusions were drawn from data submitted by program directors that en- compassed two- and four-year radiography programs. An ANOVA demonstrated statistically significant differences (p = .05) between two-year programs that employ non-traditional admissions criteria and programs that rely more exclusively on traditional selection criteria such as GPA, standardized tests, reference letters, and interviews. Radiography program directors should be using prerequisite course performance to reformat their current admissions process to improve graduation rates in their programs.

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Human Resources Management | Organizational Behavior and Theory | Student Counseling and Personnel Services

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