Committee Chair

Rausch, David W.

Committee Member

Crawford, Beth K.; Rutledge, Valerie C.; Graybeal, Susan E.

Department

Dept. of Education

College

College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Dual enrollment programs are designed to offer students academic opportunities and college access, along with the potential to decrease the amount of time it takes to complete a college degree and to lower the cost of college. This study was a comparison of college success rates for dual enrolled and non-dual enrolled students at a community college. The research study compared graduation success rate data from four consecutive years of high school graduates through the completion of their associate degrees. Five research questions were assessed. RQ1: Was there a statistical difference in the percentage of dual enrollment participants attending the target community college and those dual enrollment participants who did not attend the target community college? RQ2: Was there a statistical difference in the college graduation success rate of students who graduated from high school with earned college credit through dual enrollment and those students who graduated from high school without earned college credit through dual enrollment at the community college? RQ3: Was there a statistical difference in the percentage of student retention from first and second year of college for dual enrolled versus non-dual enrolled students? RQ4: Was there a statistical difference in the number of dual enrolled and non-dual enrolled students who graduated within three years? RQ5: Was there a statistical difference in the speed of completion of dual enrolled and non-dual enrolled students completing an associate degree within three years of their entry into college as a full-time freshman? Findings revealed that dual enrolled students in the study were more likely to complete degrees, retention was more likely for dual enrolled students, and students who had been dual enrolled in high school were more likely to graduate within the 3-years after high school graduation. Finally, this study concluded that dual enrolled students graduated at a greater speed of completion than did non-dual enrolled students.

Acknowledgments

First and foremost I want to give thanks and praise to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for the strength to complete this research project. There were many days that I drew from His strength and clarity when my strength and clarity were weak. While I had some great encouragement from so many others, I give thanks to God for His awesome help and strength in completing this research project. I extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude to my doctoral committee chair Dr. David Rausch and to my committee members Dr. Beth Crawford, Dr. Susan Graybeal, and Dr. Valarie Rutledge. You all have been so encouraging along the way and I truly appreciate your guidance. I want to thank Ms. Connie Church for her help, and willingness to share of her knowledge of Excel. A special thank you goes out to my daughter Jennifer for her willingness to share her expertise, support, and assistance with the SPSS program. I want to thank my assistant Ms. Shawna Shafer for her help with APA formatting. I could never have done it without you. Last but not least, I want to extend a huge thank you to my friend Amy Sallee for her constant encouragement through this journey. She has been a great support to me personally as I worked to complete this lifelong learning project.

Degree

Ed. D.; A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Education.

Date

5-2014

Subject

Dual enrollement; Community colleges; Education; Secondary

Keyword

Community college; Completion; Dual enrollment; Graduation rates; Retention

Discipline

Education

Document Type

Doctoral dissertations

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xi, 64 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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