Abstract

Community colleges enroll diverse student populations with varied academic preparation, socioeconomic backgrounds, and personal circumstances. These factors contribute to lower retention and persistence rates compared to four-year institutions. This work adds to the research on community college retention and persistence by attempting to identify factors related to student retention and persistence at Johnson County Community College, a large suburban community college in the American Midwest. Using 21 variables drawn from Community College Survey of Student Engagement data collected online in Spring 2021, a sample of 289 students was analyzed to identify variables with a statistically significant (p < 0.05) association with next-term retention, fall-to-fall retention, or persistence. The findings reveal that only credit hours completed is consistently associated with retention and persistence. While credential-seeking and financial aid are associated with next-term retention (p = .002 and p < .001, respectively), neither was associated with long-term outcomes. Age group was associated with fall-to-fall retention (p = .043) and persistence (p = .031) but not with next-term retention. Additionally, while being married and living with dependent children were associated with persistence (p = .005 and p = .002, respectively), neither was related to either of the retention measures. These results underscore the complexity of retention dynamics and highlight the need for further research to validate the utility of the CCSSE instrument at the institutional level and explore whether these results are anomalous.

Disciplines

Community College Leadership | Curriculum and Instruction | Higher Education | Sociology

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