The focus of this research is adult students enrolled in seven online allied health programs offered by a postsecondary healthcare career institution. The problem under investigation is the retention and timely graduation of adult students in an online learning environment. The question is the extent to which student support services influence both adult students in meeting their projected on-time graduation dates, as well as students who have graduated yet did not met their projected graduation dates. When the specific requirements of online students are considered, the initial findings from the literature indicate a positive correlation between available online student support services, student engagement, and students' satisfaction with online courses. However, the direct relationship between online student support services, student satisfaction, and meeting projected graduation dates of adult learners could not be established. Research indicates overall motivation and satisfaction of adult online learners could be impacted by external factors such as family and financial obligations. The relationship between support services, the individual needs of the adult learner, programmatic retention, and the timely graduation of adult online learners will be investigated in further research. [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://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]