Unacceptably high attrition rates present a challenge for American community college administrators. Paradoxically, community colleges have been denoted in fewer than 25 percent of the research conducted with regard to the potential benefits of cohort learning communities. This qualitative case study was conducted with 10 students from the Industrial Automation Systems program at a southwestern community college. One instructor, grounded in collaborative learning, coordinated a three-course learning community for purposes of investigating students' perceptions of academic persistence. Eight of the 10 students that participated in the cohort completed an anonymous online questionnaire (via SurveyMonkey) during week 14 of the 16-week semester. The researcher developed the questionnaire in order to uncover students' perceptions of academic engagement and persistence with regard to their participating in a cohort learning community. Two research questions were presented: (1) How do students perceive the role of cohort learning with regard to their persisting academically; and (2) What are students' perceptions of the ways to increase participation in cohort learning? Tinto's Student Integration Model was the chief theoretical paradigm used, to better understand how cohort learning may play a role in framing students' perceptions of engagement and subsequent academic persistence. The research study participants enjoyed being a part of the learning community; they appreciated being around the same people several times weekly and learning from their peers. Also, the students felt more comfortable with their peers as a result of participating in the community. Enhanced learning, motivation, team building, and critical thinking skills were also expressed as being positive outcomes of the study. Five of the eight students that completed the questionnaire offered suggestions with regard to increasing participation in future cohort learning endeavors. One recommendation to consider for future research on cohort learning communities is to begin with smaller-scale, qualitative case studies prior to embarking upon full-fledged quantitative investigations. An additional recommendation for future research is to reduce the amount of time allotted to research study participants for completing the qualitative questionnaire. The allotted time for this research study was one week; a time allotment of 24 to 48 hours may have worked better. [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.]