High-Impact Practices and the Educational Trajectories of Community College Students

• In Event: Community College Student Success

Abstract

Increasingly more students begin higher education at community or two-year colleges. Yet retention and graduation rates remain a concern. Extant research on educational outcomes of community college students have not thoroughly examined the influence of curriculum experiences, especially with a national sample. Here, we used the Input-Environment-Output framework, cohort panel data from the 2002 – 2012 Education Longitudinal Study, and multinomial logistic regression to examine whether more positive outcomes accrue to students who experienced high impact practices (HIP) in their classrooms. We found strong evidence for the positive impact of six types of HIP on the earning of an Associate degree and on vertical transfers into four-year institutions. These results were robust after controlling for precollege and college characteristics.

Authors

• Scott M Myers, Montana State University

• Carrie B. Myers, Montana State University