Narrative Review of Literature

Recommendations to Address the Problem of Low Graduation Rates among Black Non-Hispanic Students at Glendale Community College

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September 21, 2022

Recommendations to Address the Problem of Low Graduation Rates among Black Non-Hispanic Students at Glendale Community College

This section reviews literature around the factors influencing students’ rates of college completion and strategies for increasing retention.

Factors Influencing College Completion Rates

Academic Factors Influencing College Completion

Grade Point Average (GPA) and Academic Program

In their Saudi-Arabia-based study, Almenaie (2018) found that both grade point average (GPA) and the nature of one’s academic discipline influenced the likelihood of timely completion. Students were more likely to graduate if they had high GPAs and if they were taking medicine or scientific-related courses as opposed to humanities (Almenaie, 2018). These findings partly mirror those of Guzman et al. (2021), who also found a positive association between a student’s course average and timely college completion. However, differently from Almenaiae (2018), 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 – students with higher levels of satisfaction were more likely to complete their courses on time (Guzman et al., 2021).

Past Academic Performance

Studies found that past academic performance significantly influenced the likelihood of timely course completion and thus, students who perform better in high school were more likely to complete their college courses on time (Guzman et al., 2021; Almenaiae, 2018). However, Almenaie (2018) found that students’ performance in pre-admission aptitude tests predicted their rate of completion better than high school performance. As such, the author recommends that such tests are adopted as part of the admission requirements as they are more accurate indicators of the risk of non-completion.

Participation in Extra-Curricular Activities

In their study, Scott and Castles (2017) sought to determine the factors that influence completion rates among student athletes in the US. They found a significant positive association between the numbers of hours spent preparing for class and timely completion. However, participation in extra curricula activities had no significant effect on course completion (Scott & Castles, 2017).

Institutional Factors Influencing College Completion

Staff Quality and Student-Staff Ratio

Studies contend that a positive school or campus climate increases the chances of students completing their courses on time (Buckman et al., 2021; Guzman et al., 2021; Srairi, 2021, Fleming et al., 2017; Bengesai & Paideya, 2018; Afable et al., 2022). Researchers study different variables of school climate to analyse their impact on college completion. Srairi (2021) found a significant negative relationship between both staff quality and student-staff ratio and students’ completion rates in an analysis of Tunisian universities. The study measured staff quality by the proportion of full professors over the total number of university staff and student-staff ratio as the ratio of teaching staff to enrolled students (Srairi, 2021).

Sense of Belonging

Okuduba et al. (2022) found that students’ completion rates depended on how well the staff and general environment 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

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. However, the relationship between gender and completion rate was insignificant in Margarit and Kennedy (2019), and Guzman et al. (2021) found that females were less likely to graduate on time in their study. The differences in findings can could be attributed to differences in context. The setting of the Margarit and Kennedy (2019) study was a community college in Florida, while that of Almeniae (2018) was a Saudi Arabian university. Guzman et al. (2021) was carried out at an American university in a rural setting. 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