Log-linear modeling was employed to explore the conceptual relationships among community college student persistence and nine variables, including student demographics, purpose for enrolling, intentions to return, frequency of informal interaction with faculty, and satisfaction with the institution in general. The study sample was 369 new and continuing students enrolled at a surburban community college during fall 1984. Four hierarchical models that are posited indicate significant interactions between persistence and intentions to return and persistence and sex (i.e., full-time female students had greater persistence than their male counterparts). Measures of academic integration, such as grade-point average, number of hours spent studying each week, and frequency of interaction with faculty, had independent effects. Review of conceptual models of persistence focusing on four-year colleges and universities suggests that academic integration may be of less importance in explaining persistence at community colleges than at four-year institutions. The application of log-linear modeling to higher education research, and specifically persistence studies, is discussed. (SW)