Differences in Rates Of First-Time in College Students Who Did Not Persist Or Graduate By Their Ethnicity/Race and Enrollment Status in Texas Community Colleges: A Multiyear, Statewide Study

The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the degree to which the rates of students who did not persist or graduate had changed from the 2014-2015 academic year through the 2019-2020 academic year for first-time in college students by their ethnicity/race (i.e., Hispanic, Black, White, and Asian) and enrollment status (i.e., full-time and part-time) in Texas community colleges. Any trends that were present in the rates of students who did not persist or graduate of Texas community college students by their ethnicity/race and enrollment status were determined.
METHOD A non-experimental causal-comparative research design was used (Johnson & Christensen, 2020) in this journal-ready dissertation. Archival data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Interactive Accountability System were obtained and analyzed for six academic years by student enrollment status and ethnicity/race. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board links student ethnicity/race and enrollment status with the academic year and first-time in college status; therefore, parametric paired samples t-tests were calculated.
FINDINGS Statistically significant increases were documented in the rates of Hispanic and Black first-time in college students who did not persist or graduate in Texas community colleges over six academic years. The rates of Hispanic and Black first-time in college students with full-time enrollment status who did not persist or graduate were 43% and 49%, respectively. The rates of Hispanic and Black first-time in college students with part-time enrollment status fluctuated at 30% and 50%, respectively. Hispanic and Black first-time in college students did not persist or graduate at about 40% and 50%, respectively, regardless of their enrollment status. The rates of White and Asian first-time in college students with full-time enrollment status who did not persist or graduate were 33% and 26%, respectively. The rates of White and Asian first-time in college students with part-time enrollment status varied at 47% and 28%, respectively. White and Asian first-time in college students did not persist or graduate at about 40% and 27%, respectively, regardless of their enrollment status. Overall, the rates of Hispanic, Black, White, and Asian students were highest in the 2019-2020 academic year at 41.35%, 52.43%, 42.13%, 27.92%, respectively.