Student retention is one of the greatest concerns for institutions of higher education. Despite rising enrollment, at least half of students do not return for their second year. Annually postsecondary institutions are losing 40% of their first-year students. Research based on schools in the east, Midwest, and southeast regions showed that community college students who have taken dual-credit courses in high school are more likely to be successful, and continue on to Year 2 of college. With retention an issue in New Mexico and the possibility of an intervention through dual credit, perhaps taking dual credit in high school might influence student academic success and retention at a community college in southwestern New Mexico. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether there was a relationship between taking dual-credit courses in high school and first-year community college success (i.e., GPA = 2.0) and retention at SWNMCC during the years 2009-2012. This dissertation document is a quantitative study of the relationship between taking dual-credit courses and first-year community college success and retention. This study investigated whether participation in dual-credit courses while in high school was associated with first-year community college success and retention. Two research questions were explored in this study: (a) How does taking dual-credit vs. non-dual-credit courses in high school impact first-year community college student success (GPA = 2.0) at SWNMCC? and (b) how does taking dual-credit courses prior to entering college affect student retention after the first year in college at SWNMCC? The results revealed the following: (a) There was no significant difference in first-year community college GPAs between dual-credit and non-dual-credit students, and (b) there were no significant differences between dual-credit and non-dual-credit students in terms of their first-year GPAs and whether they returned for a second year. [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.]