We've Moved!
Visit SDSU’s new digital collections website at https://digitalcollections.sdsu.edu
Description
Public policies and economic conditions have raised the expectations toward institutions of higher education, community colleges in particular, to produce more graduates and skilled workers. As a result, state actions to increase college completion are growing, and stakeholders are holding community colleges accountable by increasingly linking budget allocations to college completion rates. The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of institutional characteristics and administrative practices on completion rates at public community colleges in California. The data on completion rates represents the 2006-2007 cohort of students who were tracked for 6 academic years. The data on other variables were collected from California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) Data Mart Management Information System and were averaged for 6 academic years to match the same academic years on completion rates. The study conducted a one-way ANOVA analysis to predict completion rates based on the institutional size, geographical location, and the number of community colleges in a district. It also conducted multiple regression analysis to predict completion rates based on employee compositions at each public community college in California. Results indicated that (a) small and medium size institutions had lower completion rates than large and very large ones, (b) rural institutions trailed behind their suburban and urban counterparts in regards to completion rates, (c) having two or three community colleges in a district predicted the highest completion rate compared to single district colleges and districts with four or more colleges, and (d) tenured or tenure-track faculty was the only variable that positively and significantly correlated with the completion rate when compared to other types of employee categories.
