Timing of Concentration, Completion, and Exit in Community Colleges

Timing of Concentration, Completion, and Exit in Community Colleges

This report examines how the timing of important events in community college student progression differs by students who upon entry to college are deemed college-ready or are referred to developmental education in one, two, or three subject areas. It also examines the timing of additional post-exit education outcomes of students who leave their first college prior to program completion.

Using five years of course-level transcript data on 14,617 first-time-in-college students from three states, this descriptive analysis identifies in which term students at various levels of college preparedness reached program concentration, earned a degree or certificate, or exited college without completing a program. Students who entered community college as college-ready in math, reading, and writing (16% of students in the sample) are compared to students who were referred to developmental education in one (32%), two (21%), or all three (31%) of those subject areas.