The problem facing many higher education institutions is the ability to engage freshmen students during the first semester of college in order to sustain their enrollment. This study assessed the effectiveness of a freshmen learning community as a retention strategy at a small, rural, and public community college. The purpose of this ex post facto study was to analyze the effect of learning communities on student withdrawal. The study sought to determine if there was a significant difference on academic achievement, persistence rates, and transfer rates between students who participated in the researched learning community and those students who did not participate in the learning community. This study also sought to determine whether or not a relationship existed on the basis of age or gender on academic achievement in the learning community. Due to a noticeable gap in literature, the study participants were selected from a two-year, public community college in the rural, Midwest. This study aimed to examine specifically the effect of learning community practice in a community college setting. Learning communities have been a proposed strategy to combat the problem of college students dropping out early in their first year of college. The data collection from the Office of the Registrar at the research institution provided the structure to this quantitative research of the students enrolled in the learning community. Analysis of data revealed that there were statistical differences in terms of academic achievement and persistence rates for students who participated in the freshmen learning community. The study did not support the probability that learning community participation increased the likelihood of higher transfer rates for community college participants. The study also did not support any suggestion that age or gender played a role in prediction of success in the learning community or even outside of the learning community. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]