This study examines how interactions with institutional agents (faculty and academic counselors) and select student support programs influence success (i.e., grade point average) and intentions to persist to degree completion for Latino/a community college students. Using social capital theory and college impact models, the study controls for the…

Nationwide, low percentages of community college students graduate. Although community colleges' higher percentages of low income, academically underprepared, non-traditional, and minority students are often cited as the reason for low graduation rates, this study sought to examine common characteristics of community college students who do…

Developmental education has been cited as one of the most difficult issues facing community colleges. Despite the controversy and changes to educational policy regarding developmental education, there is a notable dearth of rigorous research measuring the causal effect of remediation on community college student outcomes. The present study uses…

This study examines the relationship between community college enrollment patterns and student outcomes--credential completion and transfer to a 4-year institution--introducing a new way of visualizing the various attendance patterns of community college students. Patterns of enrollment intensity (full- or part-time status) and continuity…

Efforts to increase the number of women who pursue and complete advanced degrees in computer and information sciences (CIS) have been limited, in part, by a lack of research on pathways into and out of community college CIS classes. This longitudinal study tests three widely held beliefs about how to increase the number of CIS majors at 4-year…

Community colleges play a key role in educating the large number of non-traditional, low-income, and under-prepared students who have entered higher education in the past several decades. Despite increased access, community colleges are struggling to graduate students. Most, if not all, strategies provided by scholars to improve college completion…

This analysis explores student outcomes related to taking developmental English (i.e., reading and/or writing) and math classes in three community colleges in three different states, using institutional data from 7,898 students who began college in the fall of 2009 (Cohort 1) or fall 2010 (Cohort 2). We examine the outcome trajectories of students…

Community colleges are grappling with low rates of degree completion and transfer. The City University of New York's (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) aims to improve graduation rates by providing a range of comprehensive support services to community college students in select majors. Using student-unit record data, we…

Using data from the Virginia Community College System and building upon prior Florida-based research, this study examines whether student success course enrollment, as well as student and institutional characteristics, has positive associations with shorter-term student outcomes, including earning any college credits within the first year and…

In 2007-2008, approximately 42% of community college students who were eligible to receive Pell grant funding did not file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Using data from the Beginning Postsecondary Student Study, this study examined the relationship between FAFSA filing status and persistence from the fall to spring…

In an era when college completion dominates the policy agenda, matters of access and equity are critically important. The allure of raising completion rates by reducing access for students thought unprepared for college and incapable of finishing is too attractive to deny. This article discusses the importance of linking access and completion to…

This study used data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study to examine the demographic and in-college characteristics of students with disabilities at 2-year institutions, identify the types of educational services available to them, and determine how students' disability conditions and their selected demographic and…

Career and technical education (CTE) students pursuing occupational associate's degrees or certificates differ from students seeking academic majors at 2-year institutions in several ways. This article examines several theoretical models of student persistence and offers a conceptual model of student success focused on CTE students in community…

The challenge faced by all community colleges is how to increase student success, whether success is defined in terms of graduating with a degree or certificate, transferring, or retaining a job. With approximately 40% of the nation's undergraduates pursuing higher education through the community college (52% when one considers public institutions…

Using a longitudinal, state-wide dataset, this study assessed the effect of financial aid on the persistence of full-time students in associate's degree programs at the Oklahoma community colleges. Three financial-aid sources were examined: the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP), Pell grants, and Stafford loans. Results indicate that…