Community college transfer students represent a diverse and talented group to recruit to PhD and other graduate programs. Yet, little is known about practical strategies to support community college transfer students' access to graduate training. Focusing specifically on transfer students in computer science and guided by social cognitive career…

This study describes course withdrawal behaviors in the Texas public higher education institutions and examines the predictors of course withdrawal by using statewide administrative datasets. The findings showed that two-thirds of the college students in the sample withdrew from at least one course, highlighting course withdrawal as a prevalent…

Approximately 30% of students who enter the postsecondary education system do so through 2-year colleges. The majority of these students intend to earn a bachelor's degree, but most leave college before earning a diploma from a 4-year institution. The discrepancy between bachelor's degree aspirations and degree attainment rates of students who…

Community colleges, or 2-year associate-degree granting institutions, tend to enroll large numbers of students deemed misprepared for college-level coursework. Such students may also not be as likely to seek help, a self-regulated activity that is challenging and fraught with social stigma. A key component of active learning and the help-seeking…

Over the past 30 years, a shift occurred in higher education that saw more of the burden for paying for postsecondary education placed on students. Combined with rising tuition and fees, this has led students to take on increasing amounts of student debt. Despite the historic rise in student loans, surprisingly little attention has focused on…

Employee retention is an ongoing challenge for higher education student affairs professionals, who account for the largest employee group across the higher education workforce. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment have previously been identified as correlated with college and university employees' decision to stay or vacate their…

Objective: The purpose of this paper was to examine variables associated with food insecurity among community college caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used data from a multi-institutional survey of 15,051 caregivers enrolled at 130 community colleges in 42 states in fall 2020. We used a logistic regression to examine whether…

This dissertation is composed of three studies linking general education astronomy to student performance, course-taking, graduation, and identity. The first study examined demographic and academic predictors of astronomy performance among a cohort of N=1,909 community college students enrolled in astronomy courses in a large suburban community…

This dissertation investigates the dynamics of adult online learners within an urban community college setting, exploring relationships between specific adult learning predictor variables and online course grades. Understanding these relationships is crucial for informing educational policies, designing effective online learning environments, and…

This quantitative based applied research study examined data collected fromstudents who have withdrawnfromor completed aneducator preparation program (EPP) ina small rural public community college in WestVirginia. This study compared studentretention rates with Frontier andRemote (FAR) designation by home zip code. These data informedthe research…

The need for competent and qualified trainers is of paramount importance for an effective technical training system that, in turn, helps to produce competent and employable graduates for the country's economy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of trainers' competence on the employability of polytechnic college graduates in…

A concerning reality in higher education is the persistent disparity in retention and graduation rates between students of color and White students. These persistent outcome differences are commonly referred to as opportunity or achievement gaps. To address these gaps, higher education institutions are enacting targeted approaches to mitigate or…

Objective/Research Question: Community college graduation rates are typically quite low, and developmental mathematics enrollment and coursetaking patterns may constrain academic outcomes. To identify ways in which community college graduation rates may be improved, decision trees were utilized to examine the STEM coursetaking patterns of N =…

Because of their open enrollment policies, community colleges serve large numbers of students whose K-12 education has left them unready to succeed in college-level courses. Colleges typically use test scores such as the ACT to place students into appropriate course levels. However, the use of test-based measures alone has been criticized as being…

California community college (CCC) counselors assist a diverse student population with academic achievement, career exploration, and mental health/crisis interventions while tasked with administrative duties such as programming, coordinating, and advising. In addition, they have instructional duties such as teaching classes, writing syllabi, and…