Be Great in 8: Impact of compressed courses at North Carolina community colleges on student persistence

• In Event: Structural Solutions for Student Success: The Impact of Alternative Course Models at Community Colleges

Abstract

North Carolina community college leaders are reimagining how and when students enter and exit college pathways to address the critical workforce and educational attainment needs in rural communities. Recognizing the imperative to better serve adult and part-time students, some community colleges are innovating by offering more flexible and accelerated routes to credential completion through compressed course schedules. Other colleges adopting compressed course schedules have seen increases in course pass rates and decreases in withdrawal rates (Baillie & Flores, 2024; Fladd et al., nd; Tennessee Board of Regents, 2024). 

Such strategies are vital given that only 39% of part-time North Carolina community college students successfully earn a credential within a six-year timeframe; nationally, this statistic is 19% (Shapiro et al., 2018; Complete College America, 2022). In North Carolina this equates to approximately 348,000 adults aged 25 to 44 who have accumulated some college credit without obtaining a degree (King et al., 2024; MyFutureNC, 2024). 

In Fall 2023, Isothermal Community College (Isothermal) scaled most of its 16-week courses to an 8-week format through the “Be Great in 8” campaign to provide students with faster pathways to credentials that are more readily integrated with their external commitments. This shift involves longer and more frequent class meetings while ensuring comprehensive coverage of the curriculum and maintaining total instructional hours (King et al., 2024). 

Using a difference-in-differences approach, we examine the influence of Isothermal’s shift to 8-week courses on student course pass rates, withdrawal rates, and persistence. Prior to Fall 2023, 5-7% of Isothermal’s courses were offered in compressed terms, compared to 82% in Fall 2023. This sudden shift enables us to compare the outcomes for great in 8 students before and after implementation relative to other North Carolina community college students.  

In this study, 1,812 students were affected by great in 8. To create our sample, we double the treatment group numbers for a total minimum sample of 3,624 and estimate a minimum detectable effect size of 0.0931 at 80% power and 0.05 alpha. From a baseline persistence rate at Isothermal of 70.6%, we can reasonably observe an increase to 74.75% persistence rate in this MDES. Given that little research beyond descriptive analyses has been done about compressed courses, this study adds important quasi-experimental evidence to a growing body of work, a strategy that many colleges are adopting to support education attainment and meet workforce needs. 

Authors

• Holley Nichols, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Audrey J. Jaeger, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Sarah Andrea Deal, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Amber Lubera, North Carolina State University
  Presenting Author