This study identifies community college management practices that promote student success. Using transcript-level data on over 150,000 Florida community college students, the author estimated the effects on the graduation, transfer, and persistence rates of racial/ethnic minority students at each of the 28 Florida community colleges as a proxy for institutional effectiveness. The colleges were ranked based on these estimated effects, and six were selected for field research.
The high-impact colleges were more likely than the low-impact colleges to coordinate their programs and services to support student success. Racial/ethnic minority students were generally more successful in colleges that had support services targeted specifically to their needs. The study suggests that a critical factor for institutional effectiveness is how well a college manages and aligns its programs and services to support student success.
A version of this paper was published under the title “Institutional Effectiveness and Student Success: A Study of High- and Low-Impact Community Colleges” in Community College Journal of Research and Practice, vol. 31, no. 12.
A brief of this paper, Community College Management Practices that Promote Student Success, is available for download.
