Abstract
This paper presents findings from a study of the experiences and outcomes of older and younger community college students. We developed a discrete-time hazard model using longitudinal transcript data on a cohort of first-time community college students in Florida to compare the impact of enrollment pathways (such as remediation) and enrollment milestones (such as attaining a certain number of credits) on educational outcomes of older students—those who enter college for the first time at age 25 or later—with those of traditional-age students. Results suggest that reaching milestones such as obtaining 20 credits or completing 50 percent of a program is a more important positive factor affecting graduation probabilities for younger students than it is for older students. We also found that although enrollment in remedial courses decreases the odds of graduating for all students, older students who enroll in remediation are less negatively affected than are younger ones who take remedial classes.
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Acknowledgements
Helpful comments from two anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged. We thank Linda Hagedorn, Greg Kienzl, Wendy Schwartz, and Doug Slater for detailed comments and suggestions that have improved the paper. We are grateful to Pat Windham and Judith Thompson of the Florida Department of Education for sharing the data and providing insights to help explain the findings. All errors are solely ours.
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This research was funded through a research grant from the Association for Institutional Research and National Postsecondary Education Cooperative. Additional support was provided by Lumina Foundation for Education as part of the Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count initiative. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2005 American Educational Research Association and the 2006 Association for Institutional Research annual meetings.
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Calcagno, J.C., Crosta, P., Bailey, T. et al. Stepping Stones to a Degree: The Impact of Enrollment Pathways and Milestones on Community College Student Outcomes. Res High Educ 48, 775–801 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-007-9053-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-007-9053-8