Factors affecting non -completion of doctoral degrees as evidenced by students labeled All But the Dissertation (ABD)

The purpose of this study was to determine factors which affected the non-completion of doctoral degrees by students enrolled in the Educational Administration and Curriculum and Instruction programs at Tennessee State University who had completed all degree requirements except the dissertation. In addition to demographic information and comparisons among group means, the relationships between selected variables that influenced attrition were studied. The population for this study consisted of a total number of four hundred thirty-four Tennessee State University students who were enrolled, enrolled but later discontinued, and those who enrolled and graduated from the Educational Administration or Curriculum and Instruction doctoral programs at Tennessee State University from August 1988 through December 1998. The sample of 312 participants or 71.89%, consisted of all participants who responded to the Doctoral Studies Questionnaire as adapted from the National Science Foundation (NSF) instrument developed by Vincent Tinto (1995–1996) while at Syracuse University. Findings of this study were: (1) The attrition rate for respondents in this study was significantly lower than figures cited nationally. More respondents had completed their degree than were All But the Dissertation (ABD). (2) A significant difference existed between the levels of overall satisfaction of doctoral degree recipients and ABD responders. (3) A significant difference existed regarding perceptions of research satisfaction between doctoral degree recipients and ABD responders. (4) A significant difference existed between doctoral degree recipients and ABD responders based on overall satisfaction with the faculty advisor. (5) A significant difference existed between doctoral degree recipients and ABD responders based on satisfaction with the dissertation chair