What’s Next After a D/F/W Grade? Community College Students’ Online Course-Taking and Reenrollment Outcomes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Community college students’ success in required gateway courses plays a key role in their academic progress toward credential completion. Focusing on students who earned a D, F, or W grade in their first attempt at a required gateway course, this study investigated if students’ initial attempt course modality is related to their later choice to reenroll, reenrollment modality, and success in the subsequent attempt. We followed 2,673 first course attempts with a D/F/W grade in either an online or a face-to-face section of five gateway general education courses between Fall 2017 and Fall 2019 terms at a large, suburban, Midwestern community college. We conduct analyses using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analyses and find that student stop-out or dropout is prevalent after they earn a D/F/W grade. Additionally, students’ first-attempt modality is not related to their probability of reenrollment or passing the second attempt with a C or better grade, but first-attempt being F2F is associated with an increased likelihood of reenrolling in a F2F section in their second attempt by 166.8%. Students’ sociodemographic and enrollment characteristics are related to their reenrollment decisions and outcomes after earning a D/F/W in their first-attempt at the gateway course. We discuss practical implications to raise awareness on post-D/F/W reenrollment decisions, provide targeted support to reengage students, and increase online teaching effectiveness to improve equitable student outcomes.