Public community colleges must adapt to ever-changing student populations to increase student retention and completion levels. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how community college students described their academic experiences and social interactions in a coordinated studies learning community at an urban community college system in the Southwestern United States. Tinto's (1993) model of institutional departure served as the theoretical foundation for this study. The research questions addressed in the study aligned with the phenomena related to institutional experiences in Tinto's model. A purposive sample of 26 students participated in the semi-structured individual interviews and the focus group interviews. The interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis with the MAXQDA software. Seven research themes were generated that addressed the two research questions related to the students' academic experiences and social interactions. These themes included: program experiences, learning experiences, internship experiences, COVID-19 adaptations, peer interactions, instructor interactions, and team interactions. The study's results and findings described the learning community characteristics, program structural elements, instructional practices, support functions, internship experiences, and student interactions with peers, instructors, and teammates that enhanced their engagement and success. [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.]