At Issue: A Comprehensive Review and Synthesis of the Literature on Late Registration

Although definitions and policies vary, late registration generally refers to the practice of registering for a class after the start date for the semester (O'Banion, 2012). Some policymakers and practitioners laud late registration for granting access to students who otherwise would not be able to enroll in a given semester (Weiss, 1999), while others derogate late registration as detrimental to students and institutions (O'Banion, 2012). The issue is of particular importance in the current community college context because of increasing scrutiny and assessment of student success (American, 2013). A number of theoretical models have been proposed for understanding student success or persistence. For example, Tinto (1993) focused on academic and social integration, while Bean and Metzner (1985) investigated the importance of the educational envi- ronment. Although personal factors may be the primary determinants of student attrition (Cotnam & Ison, 1988), institutions can also influence student success (Habley, Bloom, & Robbins, 2012). One can therefore in- fer from student success theory that late registration may have a negative effect on student engagement and the educational environment within which students pursue goals.PurposeThere seems to be gathering momentum for critically reexamining the policy that allows students to register late for classes (Center, 2012; Shriner, 2014). A comprehensive synthesis of more than 50 years of research on late registration has the potential to identify salient findings as well as trends in the kinds of questions posed and the methods for addressing those questions.MethodTheoretical ApproachCooper and Hedges (2009) proposed a taxonomy of six characteristics of a literature review: focus, goal, perspective, coverage, organization, and audience. Table 1 summarizes the approach taken in this review. An integration goal of a review can include "formulating general statements that characterize multiple specific instances" (p. 4). The neutral perspective indicates that the reviewer does not begin with an a priori assumption or argument, although it does not preclude the reviewer from offering summative judgments based on the evidence. This review will be exhaustive within the parameters noted below; however, for the sake of brevity purposeful sampling will be used when citing specific examples.Inclusion/Exclusion CriteriaIncluded in dais literature review were qualitative and/or quantitative in- vestigations at colleges and universities of one or more of the following aspects of late registration: frequency of occurrence of late registration; characteristics of students who register late; reasons students register late; student, faculty, staff, and administrator attitudes toward late registration; and associations between late registration behavior and academic performance. Studies which examined registration timing as a continu- ous variable without discriminating between on-time and late registration were excluded because they did not provide evidence specifically related to late registration. The sources of the studies included in this review were journal articles, dissertations, and reports that were publicly available in January 2014. The initial search was conducted using Boolean terms "late enroll*" and "late regist*" in the EBSCOhost and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses databases. A secondary search was applied to the reference lists of the sources yielded in the initial search. In sum, 32 studies matched the inclusion/exclusion criteria, nearly half of which were produced in the last 10 years.1Definition and Teleology of Late RegistrationThere is not a single operational definition of late registration; however, it is permitted at most colleges and typically refers to registering late for one or more classes after the semester has begun (Dunn & Mays, 2004; O'Banion, 2007; Shriner, 2014). Smith, Street, and Olivarez (2002) explained that the two primary purposes of late registration in community colleges are to serve the open access mission and to capture more enroll- ments. …