Factor

Characteristics

Environmental

Financial status, family financial support, family emotional support, family responsibilities, childcare arrangements, family crisis, employment hours, employment responsibilities, encouragement by outside friends, living arrangements, and transportation.

Institutional interaction and integration

Nursing faculty advisement and helpfulness, memberships in professional organizations, encouragement by friends in class, professional events, peer mentoring-tutoring, and enrichment programs within the institutional setting, but outside of class.

Personal academic

Personal study skills, study hours, class attendance, credit hours enrolled, and general academic services such as computer lab hours/access, counseling, and library services. Academic factors also include course grade, semester grade point average (GPA), and overall GPA.

College facilities

Computer lab, the library, and the nursing skills laboratory.

Friend support

Informal study groups, informal cohorts of students who rely on each other for help with content or assignments, or other configurations of support.