Though research in religion and spirituality within the field of psychology has been increasing, research on the impact of religiosity on academic outcomes is rare. Much of the research conducted on religiosity and academic performance in college has been conducted in Southern or Midwestern regions of the United States. To our knowledge,…

Student retention is a problem that continues to challenge American colleges and universities, especially two-year technical colleges. Students are enrolling in two-year colleges, but they are not persisting to graduation. The purpose of this study was to measure the relationship between students' initial enrollment goals, their feeling of school…

Unacceptably high attrition rates present a challenge for American community college administrators. Paradoxically, community colleges have been denoted in fewer than 25 percent of the research conducted with regard to the potential benefits of cohort learning communities. This qualitative case study was conducted with 10 students from the…

Currently, a gap exists in the research on gay and lesbian students in community colleges. In this qualitative study, I examine experiences of gay and lesbian students in a rural, Midwestern community college. The literature review consists of a review of gay and lesbian student emergence in higher education, coming out, the relationship between…

Community colleges in the United States of America are an integral part of the higher education system. They serve students who may have life and time conflicts, students with multiple jobs and responsibilities, and students from various socio-economic backgrounds. The flexible scheduling and open admission policies of community college have…

This quantitative study investigated the ability of the noncognitive characteristic of grit to predict community college student success and persistence. Grit levels were measured using the eight-item Grit-S scale that was administered to students in classes of a large suburban community college. Individual-level institutional data also were…

Retention rates at many community colleges across America are low, because students withdraw prior to graduation, and financial aid rules known as Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) may compound the issue for the least advantaged students who have no financial or social safety nets. Some students find themselves cut off financial aid within…

This study was born out of a concern that U.S. community colleges were currently using or considering using noncognitive variables for academic placement without an understanding of how students would react to these scales in a high-stakes setting. While the use of noncognitive variables for placement often stems from a desire to overcome the…

Community colleges enroll a diverse population of military-affiliated students, including those still on active duty, reservists and veterans. According to 2015-16 federal data, student veterans accounted for about 4.8 percent of community college students, active-duty military students another 1.5 percent and reservists comprised 0.1 percent,…

Postsecondary education at a community college is increasingly becoming an expectation for students with disabilities. However, research and practice in the area of community college support systems for students with disabilities has been limited. This dissertation reports the findings from a small-scale qualitative case study to discover the…

Launched in 2009, the college completion agenda aims to significantly increase the number of community college graduates by 2020. While the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) (2012) believes that the goals of the completion agenda can be achieved without institutions sacrificing their mission or reducing student services, little is…

Student success and graduation rates are a continuing challenge for higher education institutions. A growing number of states connect funding to learning outcomes such as student progression, retention, and graduation rates (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012; Complete College America, 2011; Diamond, 2012). Student attrition and graduation rates…

Sepsis kills more than 250,000 people every year in the United States. Immediate treatment is crucial for best patient outcomes but sepsis can be challenging to identify. Nurses may miss signs of sepsis and delay life-saving treatment. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine whether an instructional presentation on…

Capstone engineering design courses have been a feature at research universities and four-year schools for many years. Although such classes are less common at two-year colleges, the experience is equally beneficial for this population of students. With this in mind, Madison College introduced a project-based Engineering Design course in 2007.…

This chapter describes community college STEM programs, including transfer-oriented science and engineering (S&E) programs and workforce-oriented technician programs, and the characteristics and educational pathways of the students who enroll in these programs.