Community College Student Dropouts from Higher Education: Toward a Comprehensive Conceptual Model

ABSTRACT

Historically, higher education research has focused on traditional students (i.e., recent high school graduates at a residential, 4-year institutions), but community college students are quickly becoming the new traditional student (Jenkins, 2012). In the fall of 2011, more than one third (36%) of all students enrolled in postsecondary education and almost half (46.7%) of all students enrolled in a public postsecondary institution were enrolled at a community college (Knapp, Kelly-Reid, & Ginder, 2012). However, community colleges have struggled to match the persistence rates at other institutional types. The 2011 2-year public community college national 3-year persistence-to-degree rate was 26.9% (American College Testing [ACT], 2011). The purpose of this paper is to review the literature regarding the most prominent theoretical frameworks for community college student persistence and suggest a new theoretical construct. The resultant framework is termed the Collective Affiliation Model because it views the student’s sense of belonging with the college as only one of many senses of belonging in the student’s life (e.g., family, work). The Collective Affiliation Model does not view student dropout as the student’s inability to integrate into the life of the institution; rather, it views it as the institution’s inability to collectively affiliate with the student. This model’s strength is that it does not work from a student deficit model. Instead, it provides a new framework for researchers and practitioners to better understand and address student drop-out at community colleges.     

Effects of a First-Semester Learning Community on Nontraditional Technical Students

The study consisted of 25 full-time Electronic Technician Certificate students with 16 randomly assigned to an experimental group registered in a team-taught learning community and with nine randomly assigned to a control group registered for individually taught unlinked classes. We hypothesized that the experimental group would have significantly better academic and social integration and more positive perceptions of their experiences than the control class as well as higher course grades and grade point averages, more contact with classmates and instructors, and greater commitment to college and second semester persistence. Both student self-reported surveys and institutional data were analyzed. Results indicated that the team-taught learning community did make a difference to its students and yielded quantitative and qualitative support for hypotheses dealing with student perceptions of academic and social integration. Findings failed to support hypotheses dealing with behavioral outcomes except for strong support for commitment to college.     

Reciprocal effects between the academic and social integration of college students

The academic and social integration of college students has been the focus of much recent research. The Tinto model of college student withdrawal focused on the constructs as explanation for commitment to goals and persistence. Research results suggested that perhaps reciprocal relationships existed between academic and social integration. Significant influences from academic integration to social integration and vice-versa indicated differing reciprocal effects for males and females.     

The Impact of Social Integration on Subsequent Institutional Commitment Conditional on Gender

Social Integration has been found by several scholars to have a significant impact on the subsequent institutional commitment and retention of college students. Few of these scholars, however, have attempted to examine whether social integration has a different impact on female students as compared to male students. This paper presents the results of a study which examined whether the impact of social integration on subsequent institutional commitment is conditional on gender. Findings suggest the need to slightly revise how higher education scholars and practitioners think about social integration and its impact of student retention.     

Transfer Student Success: Exploring Community College,University, and Individual Predictors

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates community college transfer success by exploring the relationship between individual and institutional-level characteristics at students’ two- and four-year institutions. Using statewide administrative data from North Carolina, this study employs a cross-classified multilevel model to investigate the impact that a student’s community college and four-year transfer institution have on post-transfer success. Our findings offer important and compelling insights into the relationship between transfer students, the community college they attended, the four-year transfer institution, and educational outcomes. While individual effects were small, we find several institutional factors associated with student success. Attendance at a large community college or having a public university in the same county as their community college is positively associated with student success, whereas size of the university is negatively related to grades during the first year and persistence to the second year. While the four-year institution’s selectivity is negatively related to many of our outcomes, transferring to a Historically Black College or University is positively associated with GPA, college persistence, and degree completion.     

THE EFFECT OF ACADEMIC FACTORS ON TRANSFER STUDENT PERSISTENCE AND GRADUATION: A COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE CASE STUDY

Critics contend that enrollment in a community college lessens the likelihood that a student will complete a bachelor's degree (S. Brint & J. Karabel, 1989). A number of studies have examined personal, demographic, and environmental characteristics that influence the academic performance of community college transfer students. This research has included characteristics that are not readily available to admissions representatives at four‐year institutions, and studies have not considered the private, liberal arts college as the senior institution.

The purpose of this study was to identify easily ascertainable characteristics that occur prior to transfer and to assess the relationship of these characteristics to persistence and baccalaureate attainment at a private, liberal arts college. Two academic factors related to persistence and graduation were included in the methodology: completion of the associate (AA) degree and community college grade point average (GPA) The subjects for the study were 200 students who completed the AA degree and transferred from one of three community colleges to a private, liberal arts college over a 5‐year period.

Results indicated that whereas completion of the AA degree resulted in a higher persistence/graduation rate, completion of the AA degree with a community college GPA of 3.0 or higher increased the persistence/graduation rate to a level equal to that of native students.     

ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY

The literature suggests that most studies on student retention have focused on student satisfaction at 4-year institutions where students tend to be more traditional in nature. The study discussed in this article investigated how Tinto's (Tinto, Russo, & Kadel, 1994) model of retention could be applied to 2-year institutions. It explored academic and social integration and their effects on student withdrawal rates as well as the effect of background skills on withdrawal rates. Study participants were 462 second-semester degree-seeking community college students who completed a survey regarding their satisfaction with the academic and social climate of the community college. Performance on Computer Placement Tests (CPTs) were correlated with withdrawal rates to determine the association between background skill levels and withdrawal patterns. No correlation was found between academic and social integration and withdrawal rates. However, findings did show that the poorer the CPT performance, the more likely students were to withdraw from courses.     

Persistence of community college students: The influence of student intent and academic and social integration

This article examines the extent to which social and academic integration and student educational objectives and intents to reenroll are predictive of persistence for community college students. An instrument designed to operationalize the concepts of social and academic integration for four-year college students was largely replicated with the two-year college population. Student educational objectives/intents discriminated most powerfully between persisters and nonpersisters, although academic and social integration and employment status also contributed significantly to differentiating the two groups. The article concludes with a brief discussion about the nature of community colleges and the fact that nonpersistence at the institution may be an indicator of student success if the student has transferred or accomplished his/her goals.     

Differences in educational outcomes of African American students from different socioeconomic backgrounds

This research tested a structural equation model of educational outcomes for three socioeconomic status (SES) groups of African American students enrolled in a community college. The structural model, which was based on a variant of Tinto's (1987) model, contained two exogenous constructs, educational intentions/commitment and external commitments, and three endogenous constructs, academic integration, social integration, and educational outcomes. The study demonstrated that higher levels of academic and social engagement had positive direct effects on educational outcomes for all students regardless of SES background. Other paths that were supported included the positive direct effects of educational intentions/commitment on academic and social integration and the negative impact of external commitments on social integration. Significant structural differences were not present in the measurement of model constructs or the process of educational outcomes among lowest, lower to middle, and middle to upper SES groups.     

Cultivating Voice: First-Generation Students Seek Full Academic Citizenship in Multicultural Learning Communities

Research has shown that first-generation, low-income college students experience both isolation and marginalization, especially during their first-year of college, which impacts their long-term persistence in higher education. In this article, I argue that learning community pedagogy designed with attention to multicultural curricula is one vehicle to address the challenges faced by these college students. Organized around the themes of identity, community, and agency, an interdisciplinary Multicultural Learning Voices Community (MLVC) was created at a large, public midwestern research university to provide TRiO students with challenging academic coursework that would connect with their lived experience and help them build bridges of social and academic integration during their critical first-year of college. This article presents qualitative data from a multiple case study of seven cohorts of the MLVC, which captures students’ perceptions of their experience. Rashné R. Jehangir  is Assistant Professor in the Department of Post Secondary Teaching and Learning in Education the University of Minnesota. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Administration and M.A. in Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include student development; access; persistence of low-income, first-generation students; and the transformation of teaching and learning to address intellectual, social, emotional and student development. She can be reached at jehan001@umn.edu.     

The role of finances in the persistence process: A structural model

The study empirically examined the role of finances on college persistence by presenting a causal model that relied on several theoretical frameworks. A quantitative model was tested via linear structural equations for categorical data that incorporated constructs from the financial aid literature as well as the persistence literature. The research design was longitudinal in nature and analyses were conducted on a sample of 466 college students who were attending a large public urban commuter institution in the spring of 1989. In sum, results appear to suggest that financial aid, and its concomitant attitude, is important not only because it equalizes opportunities between affluent and low-income students, but also because it facilitates the integration of the student into the academic and social components of the institution as well as by influencing his or her commitment to stay in college.     

Student dropout in distance education: An application of Tinto's model

The primary purpose of this study was to validate Tinto's theoretical model of student dropout in a distance education programme enrolling adult students. The variables used in adapting the model to the distance education situation were consistent with accepted definitions of the essential elements in Tinto's model: student background characteristics, academic and social integration, goal satisfaction, institutional commitment, and the criterion, student dropout. The study surveyed 356 students enrolled in university‐level courses at The Open Learning Institute (OLI) located in Richmond, British Columbia. Discriminant and path analyses were the basic statistical procedures used to assess the predictive validity of the model and determine the pattern of association among model variables. Previous validation studies of Tinto's model suggested social integration factors would have little effect on dropout behaviour among non‐traditional student groups. However, in the present study, direct telephone contact between faculty and students significantly influenced student commitment and persistence. Overall, the Tinto model appears to be a useful framework within which to investigate the process of student attrition‐persistence in a distance education institution.     

Are frequent users of social network sites good information evaluators? An investigation of adolescents’ sourcing abilities (¿Son los usuarios frecuentes de las redes sociales evaluadores competentes? Un estudio de las habilidades de los adolescentes para identificar,evaluar y hacer uso de las fuentes)

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the relationship between teenagers’ use of social networking sites (SNS) and their sourcing abilities. Sourcing is defined as students’ ability (1) to discriminate reliable and unreliable links based on source characteristics, (2) to value source criteria as means to select information resources and (3) to select reliable texts based on source characteristics. One hundred and forty-six students (M age = 14.7 years old) completed three sourcing tasks, a questionnaire on SNS use, as well as language and memory skills tests. We found that SNS frequency of use negatively predicted both participants’ ability to select the most reliable source among two conflicting sources on the same topic and their ability to cite source features when justifying their choice. SNS frequency of use was unrelated to students’ assessment of source criteria, but vocabulary level was positively related to performance in this task. We discuss various explanations for the observed relationship between teenagers’ SNS communication and their critical appraisal of information sources, and we propose avenues for instructional interventions aimed at fostering information skills.     

Integration Factors Related to the Academic Success and Intent to Persist of College Students with Learning Disabilities

Despite increased enrollment, outcomes such as grade point average (GPA), persistence, and graduation rates for college students with learning disabilities (LD) continue to lag behind those of their nondisabled peers. Reasons for the differences vary but may include academic and social integration, factors identified as important to the success of college students in general. This research investigated the relative influence of background characteristics, precollege achievement, and college integration variables on the academic success and intent to persist of college freshmen and sophomores with LD. While academic and social integration were not unique predictors of college GPA, both integration variables were unique predictors of intent to persist. The findings suggest that beyond high school achievement and background characteristics, college experiences as captured by academic and social integration are promising constructs to help explain the persistence of college students with LD. Implications for future research and practices for high school and college personnel are discussed.     

Effectiveness of the Student Success Course on Persistence,Retention, Academic Achievement,and Student Engagement

ABSTRACT

Despite a great increase in the numbers of students enrolling in higher education, specifically at community colleges, the successful completion rates for these students has remained static since the 1970s. When reviewing strategies to increase student retention and successful completion, the Student Success Course (SSC) has emerged as a promising and prominent strategy for community colleges. Given that, the purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to determine if participation in a SSC influences persistence, retention, academic achievement, and student engagement on a community college campus. Data were collected from a purposeful sample of 197 SSC participants at a middle sized community college in southeast Texas and compared to a matched sample of 235 non-SSC participants. Twelve former SSC participants were also interviewed in an attempt to build a more empirical understanding of the impact of the SSC on student engagement and, thus, the students’ decisions to remain in college. Results of this study indicate that a relationship exists between participation in the SSC and persistence, retention, academic achievement in English and mathematics, and student engagement. Additionally, participants claim that taking the SSC not only altered their perceptions of the importance of the course, but their social and study skills as well.     

The Value of Peer Interaction in the First-Term Community College Classroom: A Faculty Perspective

ABSTRACT

Existing literature suggests that social connection with peers is beneficial for first-term college students. First-term community college students are less likely to experience social interactions than their counterparts at residential universities. However, recent attention has pointed to the classroom as the main place where social interaction can occur. The objective of this study was to understand the value in promoting social integration in the first-term community college classroom. This qualitative study used a multiple case-study design to interview 13 instructors who promote social interaction in their community college classrooms filled with primarily first-term students. The sampling was reputational. Coding and thematic analysis was applied to each completed interview, and then a cross-case analysis was used to generate comprehensive themes for the entire study. According to the data generated by this study, the value of promoting social interaction in the community college classes is found in: (a) enhanced learning, (b) appealing classroom atmosphere, (c) student development and growth, (d) membership in supportive community, (e) student success, and (f) safety and comfort. The themes that emerged from the data indicate that there is qualitative value for both the student and the instructor when social interaction is present in a community college classroom. This study also suggests further research is needed to better understand how social interaction activities impact the student, and how practices can be delivered effectively and beneficially.     

Developing Service Area Indices for Community Colleges: California's Method and Experience

The economic, educational and social environments of the students served by a community college are important factors in college performance accountability, policy analysis, program evaluation, and strategic planning. For example, previous research shows that income per county is a significant predictor of transfer rates for community colleges. However, conditions for the actual geographic area of the students served by a community college may differ, for various reasons, from the economic conditions for the county in which the college is located. This article describes the development of institutional or college-level indices as an enhancement to county-level data, their use as adjustment variables for California's Accountability Reporting for the Community Colleges (ARCC), and their applicability to other research and planning studies. The service area indices are created by combining the enrollment patterns of students by ZIP Code of residence with ZCTA (ZIP Code Tabulation Area) level economic and educational data from Census 2000.     

Two types of voluntary undergraduate attrition: Application of Tinto's model

Tinto's model of institutional attrition was tested by comparing undergraduate students who had dropped out from Washington State University (WSU) one year prior to the study with a control sample of students who continued at WSU. Tinto's constructs of individual attributes, past educational experience, goal commitment, institutional commitment, social integration, and academic integration were operationalized using variables obtained from precollege records, academic records at the university, and a post-withdrawal survey. Setwise discriminant function analysis was used to discriminate between the attrition sample and the control sample using Tinto's constructs. Variables measuring individual attributes, past educational experience, institutional commitment, and academic integration all contributed significantly to the discriminant function when all other variables were controlled for. Tinto's model was also able to explain the differences between those attrition students who transferred to another institution and those who dropped out of higher education. Those that dropped out had a significantly lower academic ability, lower academic integration, lower goal commitment, and lower social integration.