Even One Semester: Analyzing Community College Student Engagement and Enrollment Status

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: Student Engagement and Involvement

Abstract

Community colleges are increasingly pushing for students to attend school full time, but many are unable to because of out-of-class commitments. However, questions about how realistic the expectation that all students attend community college full-time throughout their career is and whether it is essential that they do so begin to emerge. This study uses data from the Center for Community College Student Engagement, including focus groups with students and results from the 2016 administration of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, to examine how students’ enrollment statuses affects their engagement. Results overwhelmingly show that across multiple survey benchmarks, students who attend full-time for at least one semester show increased levels of engagement.

Authors

• Catherine Hartman, The University of Texas - Austin

• E. Michael Bohlig, The University of Texas