Hispanic Student Graduation Rates at Community College: A Study

Introduction and Institutional Overview

The purpose of this study is to provide recommendations to address the problem of low graduation rates among Hispanic students at a public community college in Glendale, California. The problem is that despite high levels of student satisfaction at the institution, only 32 percent of students complete their courses on time (Community College Review, 2022). This introduction is organized into an organizational profile, which describes the project site, and an introduction to the problem, which outlines the scope of the issue.

The study's educational site is a public community college (referred to here as GCC) offering certificate and associate-level degrees in Los Angeles County, California (GCC, 2022). GCC was established in 1926 to provide vocational and academic instruction to the people of Glendale, La Crescenta, and Tujunga who lacked access to higher education (GCC, "About GCC," 2022). The overall mission of GCC is to assist students in realizing their informed educational goals through comprehensive instructional programs and student services (GCC, 2022).

GCC offers programs in four areas: basic foundation education in mathematics, writing, reading, and English as a second language to enhance college-level success; general education to promote self-development and help students lead meaningful lives; technical and career education to support job advancement or employment; and post-secondary preparation to help students transition to four-year universities (GCC, 2022). The institution commits to the values of open communication, equity, inclusion, collaboration, transparency in decision-making, innovation, and democratic governance (GCC, 2022). It also offers financial and career counseling, as well as distance education programs to help students accomplish their learning goals efficiently (GCC, 2022).

The college is highly diverse. Caucasians make up 52 percent of the student population, followed by Latino Hispanics at 25 percent (GCC, "College Profile," 2022). African Americans and Asians make up approximately 20 percent of the student body (GCC, "College Profile," 2022). Approximately 55 percent of students are female, and most (38 percent) are working toward obtaining an associate degree and transferring to a four-year institution (GCC, "College Profile," 2022).

The institution employs 1,074 staff, including 63 administrators, 204 full-time faculty, 485 adjunct faculty, and 322 classified staff (GCC, "College Profile," 2022). It is headed by a president/superintendent assisted by four vice presidents and an administrative dean (GCC, "Administration," 2022). The vice presidents — overseeing Administrative Services, Instructional Services, Student Services, and Human Resources — are supported by Deans, Associate Deans, and Program Managers (GCC, "Administration," 2022). Major decisions must be approved by the six-member board of trustees (GCC, "Administration," 2022).

The Graduation Rate Problem and Its Significance

The central problem at GCC is that, on average, only 32 percent of students complete their courses and graduate on time (Community College Review, 2022). According to the 2019 Student Success Scorecard produced by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, timely graduation rates are lowest among Hispanic students, who form the focus of this study. Data from 2019 indicates that 60.6 percent of Caucasian students completed their certificate or degree-related outcomes, compared to only 36.1 percent of Hispanic students (California Community Colleges, 2019). Statewide data indicates a completion rate of 42 percent for Hispanic students, showing that GCC ranks below the state average in Hispanic student completion relative to other racial groups (California Community Colleges, 2019b).

To address the problem of low graduation rates, GCC has previously conducted satisfaction surveys to gather students' views on campus climate and actions that could enhance retention. In the 2019 survey, 93.9 percent of students reported satisfaction with campus climate and 96 percent believed the instructional programs were high quality; yet only 68 percent believed they were progressing toward their educational goals as quickly as possible (GCC, "Student Satisfaction," 2022). More recently, GCC began offering distance learning modalities and academic counseling programs to improve retention and ensure timely course completion. Despite these efforts, the institution has continued to report low graduation rates among Hispanic students.

Studies have shown that delayed college completion increases the risk of dropping out and results in lower post-college earnings (Witteveen & Attewell, 2021). GCC's stated mission is to help students live meaningful lives and realize their best potential in the global community (GCC, "Mission, Vision," 2022). The effects of delayed college completion directly inhibit this mission, making it imperative to identify and address the underlying factors.

Studies have shown that delayed college graduation affects employment prospects and reduces post-college earnings by between 8 and 15 percent, as employers tend to use delays as a proxy for lower ability (Casalone & Aina, 2011; Witteveen & Attewell, 2021). For students, reducing time-to-degree may increase employment chances and open avenues for higher post-college wages (Witteveen & Attewell, 2021). Moreover, delayed time-to-degree is associated with higher tuition costs and a greater risk of losing financial aid (Casalone & Aina, 2011). For families, timely graduation may prevent unforeseen financial burdens, particularly when a student who has exceeded the expected timeframe loses financial aid and must find alternative funding.

For institutions, delayed graduation increases the risk of non-completion, which affects how potential applicants perceive the college, creating reputational concerns that hinder effective recruitment (Aina et al., 2019). The findings of this research may provide crucial insights to institutional policymakers on the factors contributing to delayed graduation and strategies for addressing them. High graduation rates, in turn, may yield better college ratings, a stronger reputation, and improved ability to attract students (Aina et al., 2019).

At the national level, delayed graduation denies the workforce the skills and human capital that students would contribute post-graduation (Aina et al., 2019). Identifying the factors that hinder timely college graduation may ensure that the broader workforce benefits from the additional skills students provide upon completing their degrees, contributing to higher labor productivity and increased national revenues (Aina et al., 2019). This research is also timely because, while a substantial body of literature exists on barriers to timely graduation, most studies focus on four-year colleges, leaving community colleges relatively understudied. The standards and contexts of community colleges differ significantly from those of four-year institutions, and findings may not be generalizable across both settings.

Purpose Statement and Research Design

The purpose of this study is to provide recommendations to help address the problem of low graduation rates among Hispanic minority students at the community college in Glendale, California. To realize this purpose, the study employs both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. Quantitative data will be collected through an online survey administered via the Google Forms platform to 50 students and 30 faculty members at GCC. The researcher will invite interested students to participate through the Latino Student Association at GCC by attending association meetings to advertise the study and invite participants to register their email addresses, through which they will receive a link to the online survey. Faculty members will receive an email invitation, and willing participants will similarly be sent the survey link.

As part of the qualitative data collection, the researcher will conduct semi-structured interviews with 10 Hispanic student leaders at GCC, targeting 10 of the 15 leaders of the Latino Student Association on campus. The final data collection method will be document review, aimed at obtaining insights into the institutional climate at GCC. Documents of interest will include the current curriculum map, admission guidelines, financial aid beneficiary records, faculty supplemental instruction reports, past student survey reports, and student class attendance registers.

How can the problem of low graduation rates among Hispanic minority students be solved at this California community college?

Interview and Data Collection Procedures

This section describes the specific data collection and analysis procedures to be adopted in answering the research questions, organized into interview, online survey, and document review subsections.

The researcher will conduct semi-structured interviews with 10 student leaders at GCC. Semi-structured interviews are preferred because, like structured interviews, they allow the researcher to assess participants' responses based on the same set of predetermined questions, while also offering the flexibility to ask follow-up questions for deeper understanding (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2017). Students experience campus life differently, and a rigidly closed-ended interview may not accurately capture their attitudes, experiences, and perceptions. Conversely, an entirely unstructured interview may make it difficult to compare participants' responses, as it is not guided by a predetermined set of questions (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2017). Semi-structured interviews combine elements of both approaches and are thus more advantageous to this study.

The 10 student leaders will be selected through purposeful sampling from the 15 leaders of the Latino Student Association on campus. After attending several association meetings, the researcher will select 10 leaders based on how outspoken they are, their ability to communicate in English, and how effectively they articulate issues facing students. Hispanic student leaders are preferred because they have typically been at the institution longer and have a better understanding of its issues and institutional policies. They also serve as a link between students and the administration and are therefore more likely to offer neutral and reliable responses.

The interviews will be conducted face-to-face at a mutually agreed upon time. Each interview is expected to take between 20 and 30 minutes. Face-to-face interviews help the researcher build rapport with respondents, making it easier for them to share sensitive information (Bougie & Sekeran, 2019). Furthermore, face-to-face interaction allows the researcher to observe respondents' gestures, facial expressions, and body language, which can provide crucial additional information or prompt deeper exploration of issues raised (Bougie & Sekeran, 2019).

Interviews will be recorded on audio tape, after which the data will be transcribed verbatim into a word-processing document (MS Word) saved on the researcher's personal computer. Thematic analysis will be used to identify common themes across the data. In the first step, the researcher will familiarize themselves with the data by re-reading the transcripts while listening to the recorded audio to ensure all details have been captured accurately. In the second step, the researcher will read the transcripts while underlining every data segment that captures something relevant to the research questions. In the third step, codes will be assigned to underlined segments, with segments responding to the same question or issue receiving the same code. Related codes will then be grouped together to identify themes. Maguire and Delahunt (2017) define a theme as "a pattern that captures something significant or interesting about the data and/or research question" (p. 3356). The final step will involve creating a thematic map outlining the main themes, their respective sub-themes, and the relationships between them (Maguire & Delahunt, 2017).