Low Graduation Rates at Community College

Minority Students at Glendale Community College

Literature Review

Overview

The proposed research study seeks to address the problem of low graduation rates among minority students at Glendale Community College. Annual graduation rates indicate that on average, only 32 percent of minority students complete their courses and graduate on time every year (Community College Review, 2022). The proposed study findings will go a long way towards increasing minority students’ retention rates and improving overall graduation rates. This Literature Review presents the related literature, Theoretical Framework, and Summary for the proposed research.

Related Literature

This literature review seeks to understand the academic, institutional, individual, and socioeconomic factors influencing college students’ timely completion to help address the problem of low graduation at Glendale Community College.

Academic Factors Influencing College Completion

This section reviews the education-related factors influencing student retention in higher education. It reviews literature related to Grade-Point Average (GPA) and Academic discipline.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

In their Saudi-Arabia-based study, Almenaie (2018) found a significant, positive association between grade point average (GPA) and timely completion. The study concluded that students were more likely to graduate if they had high GPAs. These findings mirror those of Guzman et al. (2021), who also found that students with higher course averages graduated earlier than those with lower averages. Students with lower course averages may have several units or examinations to retake that may cause them to take longer in school.

Academic Discipline

Almenaiae (2018) also found that students taking medicine or scientific-related courses were more likely to graduate on time than those taking humanities (Almenaie, 2018). However, Guzman et al. (2021) found that academic discipline per se had no effect on the likelihood of completion. The only significant factor was whether the student was satisfied with the course they were taking (Guzman et al., 2021). The differences in findings could be as a result of contextual differences as the two studies were carried out in different countries.

Institutional Factors Influencing College Completion

This section reviews the organizational factors that influence college completion rates. It looks at research related to Staffing and School Climate.

Staffing

Srairi (2021) found a significant positive relationship between staff quality and students’ completion rates in Tunisian Universities. The study measured staff quality by the proportion of full professors over the total number of university staff. At the same time, Afable et al. (2022) found a significant negative relationship between completion rates and student-staff ratio. High staff quality and a low student-staff ratio increase individualized attention, making students more likely to graduate on time.

School Climate

Okwuduba et al. (2022) found that students’ completion rates depended on how well the school climate created a sense of belonging for students. Studies contended with this finding, with empirical analyses showing that availability of accommodation in college (Scott & Castles, 2017; Guzman et al., 2021), self-advocacy opportunities (Fleming et al., 2017), supplemental instruction programs (Bengesai & Paideya, 2018), and in-service learning (Hungo, 2017, Morris-Matthews et al., 2020) all enhanced students’ sense of belonging and resulted in higher completion rates.

Individual Factors Influencing College Completion

This section seeks to understand the demographic factors that dictate how soon college students complete their courses and graduate. It reviews literature around age and gender, two of the most commonly-studied demographic variables.

Age

All the reviewed studies found an inverse relationship between age and timely college completion, indicating that younger learners were more likely than older ones to complete their studies on time (Margarit & Kennedy, 2019; Almenaiae, 2018; Guzman et al., 2021). The authors associate this finding with growing responsibilities that come with advancement in age.

Gender

On gender, Almenaiae (2018) and Margarit and Kennedy (2019) both found that female students were more likely than males to graduate on time. In a different study, Guzman et al. (2021) found that females were less likely to graduate on time. The differences in findings can could be attributed to differences in context. Different contexts have different influences on gender roles and are associated with different responsibilities and support systems for males and females in college.

Socioeconomic Factors Influencing College Completion

Several studies have sought to determine the effect of socioeconomic variables on students’ completion rates. This section focuses on two of the most common socioeconomic factors across studies: Access to financial aid and Employment in College.

Financial Aid

Margarit and Kennedy (2019) found a significant positive association between availability of financial aid and timely graduation among community college students. This finding mirrors that of Almeniae (2018), who found that university students with access to student loans, grants and scholarships graduated earlier than those without such access. This is because financial aid enhances a student’s comfort and makes them more likely to concentrate on their studies.