| This dissertation examined the college environment satisfaction of students from rural communities, those areas with fewer than 2,500 residents. Using archival data from ACT, Inc., six factors of college environment satisfaction were studied: academic, admissions, rules and regulations, course registration, facilities, and general environmental aspects. An ecological theoretical foundation was used in formulating hypotheses to explain the extent to which college student body size, high school student body size, and participation in high school extracurricular activities contributed to the satisfaction on these six environmental factors. No significant interactive effects were found among the three independent variables. A statistically significant main effect was found with college student body size on the academic factor such that rural students were more satisfied with the academic environment at small colleges than at large colleges. First-year students were also more satisfied with the academic environment at small colleges than at mid-sized colleges. In each case where a significant main effect was found, the actual difference between college size groups was small.;The relationships between high school extracurricular participation and both high school size and high school curricular satisfaction were also studied. No meaningful correlations were found between high school extracurricular participation and high school curricular satisfaction. A small statistically significant correlation in a negative direction was found between high school size and high school extracurricular participation. Item-to-subscale correlations on the college environment satisfaction measure were found to lend moderate statistical support to the factor structure of this measure. The study's limitations and suggestions for future research were discussed. |
