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Community college student success: What institutional characteristics make a difference?

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  • Calcagno, Juan Carlos
  • Bailey, Thomas
  • Jenkins, Davis
  • Kienzl, Gregory
  • Leinbach, Timothy

Abstract

Most of the models developed to examine student persistence and attainment in postsecondary education largely fail to account for the influence of institutional factors, particularly when attendance is observed at multiple institutions. Multi-institutional attendance is common for students who begin at a community college, but until now an empirical framework to estimate the contribution of more than one institution's characteristics on students' educational outcomes has been largely absent in the literature. One of the goals of this study is to determine which institutional characteristics are correlated with positive community college outcomes for students who attend one or more colleges as measured by individual student probability of completing a certificate or degree or transferring to a baccalaureate institution. Using individual-level data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) and institutional-level data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we find consistent results across different specifications; namely, a negative relationship between relatively large institutional size, proportion of part-time faculty and minority students on the attainment of community college students.

Suggested Citation

  • Calcagno, Juan Carlos & Bailey, Thomas & Jenkins, Davis & Kienzl, Gregory & Leinbach, Timothy, 2008. "Community college student success: What institutional characteristics make a difference?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 632-645, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:27:y:2008:i:6:p:632-645
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Peter Riley Bahr & Claire A. Boeck & Phyllis A. Cummins, 2022. "Is Age Just a Number? A Statewide Investigation of Community College Students’ Age, Classroom Context, and Course Outcomes in College Math and English," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(4), pages 631-671, June.
    3. Matt S. Giani, 2019. "The Correlates of Credit Loss: How Demographics, Pre-Transfer Academics, and Institutions Relate to the Loss of Credits for Vertical Transfer Students," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(8), pages 1113-1141, December.
    4. Kurlaender, Michal & Jackson, Jacob & Howell, Jessica S. & Grodsky, Eric, 2014. "College course scarcity and time to degree," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 24-39.
    5. Scott E. Carrell & Michal Kurlaender, 2016. "Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road to Four-Year Success," NBER Working Papers 22904, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Sarah R. Cohodes & Joshua S. Goodman, 2014. "Merit Aid, College Quality, and College Completion: Massachusetts' Adams Scholarship as an In-Kind Subsidy," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 251-285, October.
    7. David B. Monaghan & Olivia K. Sommers, 2022. "And Now for Some Good News: Trends in Student Retention at Community Colleges, 2004–2017," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(3), pages 425-452, May.
    8. Cassandra M.D. Hart & Elizabeth Friedmann & Michael Hill, 2018. "Online Course-taking and Student Outcomes in California Community Colleges," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(1), pages 42-71, Winter.
    9. Cohodes, Sarah & Goodman, Joshua, 2012. "First Degree Earns: The Impact of College Quality on College Completion Rates," Working Paper Series rwp12-033, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    10. Eline Sneyers & Kristof De Witte, 2017. "The interaction between dropout, graduation rates and quality ratings in universities," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(4), pages 416-430, April.
    11. Kokkelenberg, Edward C. & Sinha, Esha, 2010. "Who succeeds in STEM studies? An analysis of Binghamton University undergraduate students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 935-946, December.
    12. Esteban M. Aucejo & Claudia Hupkau & Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela, 2020. "Where versus What: College Value-Added and Returns to Field of Study in Further Education," CVER Research Papers 030, Centre for Vocational Education Research.
    13. Michel Grosz & Michal Kurlaender & Ann Stevens, 2022. "Capacity and Flexibility in Community College CTE Programs: Program Offerings and Student Success," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(1), pages 140-188, February.
    14. Scott E. Carrell & Michal Kurlaender, 2018. "Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road to Four-Year College Success," NBER Chapters, in: Productivity in Higher Education, pages 291-315, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Thomas Bolli & Tommaso Agasisti & Geraint Johnes, 2015. "The impact of institutional student support on graduation rates in US Ph.D. programmes," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 396-418, August.
    16. Veselina P. Vracheva & Robert Moussetis & Ali Abu-Rahma, 2020. "The Mediational Role of Engagement in the Relationship Between Curiosity and Student Development: A Preliminary Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1529-1547, April.
    17. Andrew Foote & Michel Grosz, 2020. "The Effect of Local Labor Market Downturns on Postsecondary Enrollment and Program Choice," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 593-622, Fall.

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