Developmental courses are offered at most two year and four year colleges and universities in order to meet the instructional needs of students who have shown skill deficiencies based upon test scores in the areas of reading, English, or mathematics. The purpose of developmental reading courses at the postsecondary level is to increase students' reading literacy proficiency in order to be able to successfully meet the reading expectations in future college courses. Traditionally, these developmental reading courses have been designed for discrete skill instruction with little or no attention in the curriculum given for independent reading of authentic texts. Self-selected reading for enjoyment (SSRE), or time spent in silent reading of individually selected texts, is widely recognized as an important element of a reading curriculum in elementary and middle school settings, but this instructional method is less frequently used as students progress to secondary or postsecondary schooling. This can result in the Matthew Effect of reading in which struggling readers increase their reading deficiencies and lack of positive reading self-efficacy by not being exposed to, or choosing not to participate in, engaged reading pursuits. In this mixed methods study, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered for 136 postsecondary developmental reading students at a southeastern community college in order to gauge the impact of SSRE on reading comprehension and sense of reading self-efficacy. Students in an experimental group spent one hour per week, for fourteen weeks, with the SSRE treatment condition. The results of an ANCOVA and mixed model ANOVA demonstrated no significant difference between the control and experimental group on the variable of reading comprehension. The results of mixed model ANOVAs did reveal a significant difference for two constructs within the variable of sense of reading self-efficacy. Qualitative data gathered resulted in six emergent themes: reading achievement; academic reading, comprehension, and reading skills; confidence; motivation, persistence, and stamina; interest and content/cultural literacy; and English Language Learners. [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.]