College Success Courses: Success for All

Abstract

ABSTRACTCollege success courses (CSCs), or orientation courses, are offered by community colleges and universities to facilitate the success of first-time-in-college students. Primarily, these courses are designed to address students’ nonacademic deficiencies, such as weak study habits and poor organizational skills, and to familiarize students with campus resources and support services (Zeidenberg, Jenkins, & Calcagno, 2007). In this descriptive, quantitative study, the pass and withdrawal rates of 19,023 developmental students in a CSC were calculated by gender, ethnicity, and age across and within six community college system campuses located in Texas for four consecutive semesters, Fall 2012 through Fall 2013. Among the findings, women consistently fared better than men, and the youngest followed by the oldest student groups tended to pass at higher rates. Black students held the lowest passing rates and the highest withdrawal rates across all community college campuses reviewed. On the other hand, Hispanic students passed the CSC at higher rates than any other ethnic group at the majority of the community college campuses. Multiple factors may have contributed to students’ success. A discussion of these factors may help administrators enact policies to assist low-performing groups at their community colleges.