There are considerable bodies of research addressing the extent to which students are consuming political news messages and factors that influence student success and retention. However, there is a dearth of research addressing the relationship between these variables. Guided by Cultivation Theory and Sense of Belonging research, the present study sought to explore the relationship of student news consumption with term-to-term persistence and GPA in community colleges, while including political discussions in the classroom as a variable. Data were collected via a self-report online survey containing questions about political news consumption behaviors, political discussions in the classroom, perceived sense of belonging, GPA, intent to return to college, and bio-demographic information. The final sample comprised 78 students who were members of their community college speech and debate (forensics) team within the past year. Spearman correlations were used to identify significant relationships among variables. Blocked multiple regression determined the predictive effect of input and environmental variables on GPA and term-to-term persistence. ANOVA analyses compared the mean scores of perceived sense of belonging based on gender identity, racial identity, and political orientation. Results indicated that political discussions in the classroom positively correlated with persistence. Sense of belonging positively correlated with GPA and persistence. Number of news sources accessed positively correlated with persistence. Finally, political news consumption behaviors were positively correlated with sense of belonging. Lawmakers and education practitioners can collaborate to mandate more courses that invite political discussions in the classroom. Professional learning opportunities on managing political discussions are necessary, as well as more programming for students to increase their perceived sense of belonging. Institutions are encouraged to provide more media literacy curriculum and perform curriculum audits to increase culturally-relevant pedagogy. Future research can benefit from disaggregating political news consumption based on content and reliability. Studies should also employ comprehensive quantitative and qualitative measures for political discussions in the classroom. Lastly, study replications can broaden the invitation to participate in order to obtain a larger sample size, thereby allowing for greater generalizability of results. [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://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]