Educational Outcomes of Postsecondary Occupational Students

Abstract

This Brief discusses a research study that was conducted to determine the rates of degree completion of community college occupational students compared with other types of postsecondary students, and to identify factors that might explain those differences. Much of the existing literature on college persistence and completion is focused on baccalaureate students and pays little attention to students in community colleges, and even fewer studies consider differences by students’ program of study. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether students in occupational programs in community colleges persist in postsecondary education and attain degrees at similar rates as their academic and baccalaureate peers. Community college students, as defined here, are those taking for-credit courses at a two-year or less than two-year institution, or at a four-year institution, and who are pursuing a certificate or associate degree, or seeking no degree. Thus, community college student is a descriptive term independent of the type of institution the student is attending; rather, the designation is based on the student’s type of degree program. While we include some students at four-year institutions because of their stated degree objective, nearly 90 percent of all community college students fitting this definition attend two-year or less than two-year institutions, with more than threequarters attending public two-year institutions. Occupational students constitute a group within the community college student population whose self-reported major is in one of the following vocational fields of study: agricultural business and production, agricultural sciences, business, communication technologies, computer and information science, construction, engineering, engineering technologies, health professions, home economics, mechanics and repair, personal services, precision production, protective services, science technologies, or transportation. Academic students also comprise a group of community college students. Their self-reported major is in an academic field of study (humanities, mathematics, science, or social science). Baccalaureate students are those taking for-credit courses toward a bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution.