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Latent Postsecondary Persistence Pathways: Educational Pathways in American Two-Year Colleges

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Abstract

Latent trajectories of credit hour accumulation were modeled using three independent samples of community college students. Five qualitatively distinct patterns of persistence emerged from these samples: Full-time, long-term; 2 years and out; long-term decliners; part-time, long-term; and one term and out. Follow-up analyses using measures on the Community College Student Report indicated that long-term decliner group; the part-time, long-term group; and the one term and out-group were less engaged than full-time students. In particular, the long-term decliner group was the least engaged group. The models illustrate the utility of latent trajectory modeling in higher education research and provide the basis for an empirically based typology of postsecondary persistence pathways.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks go to project research assistant, Lin Tao and, readers, Kay McClenney, Courtney Adkins, and Rowland Cadena.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Administration, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, Stop D5600, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    C. Nathan Marti

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  1. C. Nathan Marti
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Correspondence to C. Nathan Marti.

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This study was supported by a grant (2890) from the Lumina Foundation.

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Nathan Marti, C. Latent Postsecondary Persistence Pathways: Educational Pathways in American Two-Year Colleges. Res High Educ 49, 317–336 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-007-9083-2

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