The relationship between quantity of instructor to student interactions in online, asynchronous, course-specific courses at the community college level is under-researched. This quantitative, correlational study examined the relationship between the weekly number of instructor-generated posts and two course outcomes within fully online history…

In selecting an area within education to focus on for my disquisition, I chose to focus on dual enrollment programs. Dual enrollment, a nationwide program allowing high school students to take college classes, prepares high school students for planning and organizing post-secondary goals such as obtaining a degree from a two or four-year higher…

The academic outcomes of retention, completion, persistence and final exam scores between courses taught with open educational resources (OER) and courses taught with publisher content (non-OER) were investigated in this mixed method sequential study. The perceptions and experiences of the instructors who taught the courses were also explored. The…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effect that course format had on student success rates and withdrawal rates at an Alabama community college from 2012 to 2014. The goal was to determine if students who were enrolled in online, hybrid, or face-to-face developmental courses were more or less likely to withdraw from those…

Increasing numbers of student veterans in the United States are transitioning into a higher education culture that reflects major differences from the military culture. Higher education leaders need to understand what these students require and what will help them transition smoothly into higher education. The purpose of this quantitative case…

Face-to-face, online, and hybrid/blended course delivery methods have become the main methods of instruction in community colleges. This study examined the effects of different course delivery methods (e.g., face-to-face, hybrid, and online) on students' final course grades and course withdrawals in an introductory Biology course. The effects of…

This research examined withdrawal and completion rates in courses at public community colleges in West Virginia during the Fall 2009 and Fall 2010 semesters. Online distance education has quickly gained popularity over the previous ten years, and the number of students enrolling in online education has increased at a higher rate than overall…

The low graduation rate of degree-seeking students at public community colleges is an important crisis facing communities across the United States. College satisfaction and withdrawal cognitions in students have been identified as key factors in college persistence by researchers. However, a review of the literature revealed no study in which a…

It is evident that the failure rate is higher among online students than in-class students at Hopkinsville Community College. An analysis of the academic records of students who enrolled in online courses for the first time at Hopkinsville indicated a 13% higher withdrawal and failure rate than those who took in-class courses over the same period…

This dissertation gathers and classifies the self-reported reasons students gave for withdrawing or considering withdrawing from first year composition (FYC) courses at an urban community college on the Gulf Coast of Texas (CCGC) between 2004 and 2008. With an average student attrition rate of 20% in FYC courses at CCGC, the research question…

This study examined the influence that previously researched and affirmed persistence and early withdrawal factors such as student demographics, enrollment status factors, student characteristics, and student educational goals had on Iowa community college retention rates for the 2005, 2007, and 2009 academic years. It is the researcher's…

The education attainment level of residents in rural Appalachia has consistently ranked below the remaining populous of the United States. Although distance education initiatives have attempted to bridge the disparities between rural Appalachia and the rest of the nation, online community college students in this region are likely to drop out or…

Community colleges have been criticized for having lower graduation rates than four year colleges, but few studies have looked at non-graduation transfer, in which a student leaves the community college for a four-year college without taking an associate degree. The current study utilizes institutional data and a discrete-time event history model…

First-generation female students in community colleges are dropping out and withdrawing from college at an alarming rate. There are women who are administrators and leaders in these institutions who were once first-generation college students. The research gleaned first-hand experiences from participants who were first-generation females. These…

The problem facing many higher education institutions is the ability to engage freshmen students during the first semester of college in order to sustain their enrollment. This study assessed the effectiveness of a freshmen learning community as a retention strategy at a small, rural, and public community college. The purpose of this ex post facto…