Dropouts and stopouts--how one community college has served them

A survey of a systematically selected sample of former community college students who had.withdrawn prior to obtaining a degree showed that 86 percent were satisfied with the programs and services of the community college, 46 percent had completed their objectives before withdrawing, 44 percent had both completed their objectives and were satisfied with the community college, and that 81 percent intended to continue their education at either the community college or some other college. The study was conducted because of an increasing volume of criticisms of the community college due to the low proportion of students that complete requirements for degrees in that institution. This criticism appears unwarranted inasmuch as Frank Newman and others have reported that the majority of persons enrolling in community colleges do not abide by the conventional academic format that results in a degree. K. Patricia Cross and others have observed that "drop-out, drop-in, drop-out" students realize their educational objectives without ever receiving a "degree" from the community college. This study supports their observations. Since the institution that participated in the study is probably typical of many community colleges, this study indicates that community colleges are doing a reasonably good job of meeting students' expectations.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Community College Education

Department dc:contributor.department

Community College Education

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1977

Author dc:creator

• McKeithan, Eric B.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/109929

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/109929