The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how educators and students described the socio-cognitive aspects of collaborative learning in community colleges of Midwestern US. The theoretical framework of this study included the social cognitive theory which speculated three main elements of learning such as behavior, environmental factors, and personal or cognitive factors. Two research questions guided this study: (a) How do educators and students describe the social aspects of collaborative learning in community colleges and (b) How do educators and students describe the cognitive aspects of collaborative learning in community colleges. The researcher collected data from seven students and ten faculty members in semi-structured interviews and eight students and seven faculty members for the two focus group sessions. The participants presented to their semi-structured interview and focus group sessions with a variety of demographic characteristics. Data analysis procedures were based on Clarke and Braun's model for identifying themes and patterns from qualitative data. The data from this study resulted in four themes: (a) social components of collaborative learning groups promote learning and enhance knowledge in community college settings; (b) race and cultural background is a major social factor that influence collaborative learning; (c) one student influences another student in a collaborative learning environment; and (d) knowledge and personal ability affects collaborative learning group performance. Recommendations for future research include the focus on this study with larger sample sizes and include the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. [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.]