Education Commons^™

Success Beyond Access: Examining Institutional Barriers To Persistence And The Supports Needed By Nontraditional Students Participating In A Tuition-Free Community College Program, Amanda K. Roeher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This research study examined the experiences of nontraditional community college students attending through a tuition-free grant. The intent of the study was to explore the student identified barriers to degree persistence and the student support services nontraditional students recognize as being beneficial towards their academic journey. This qualitative case study was guided by three research questions and utilized Bean and Metzner’s (1985) Nontraditional Student Attrition Model as a guide for study design and analysis. Data collection consisted of student interviews and institutional document collection. Data analysis explored themes related to nontraditional student motivations for attendance, persistence factors, and student support …

Enabling And Threatening Factors Affecting Persistence. A Qualitative And Quantitative Study On Rural First-Generation Stem Students’ And Stem Faculty's Perspectives., Travis A. Miller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This study focuses on the factors that enable and threaten rural first-generation STEM students’ persistence. Limited empirical studies are available that focus on rural first-generation STEM majors’ persistence. Quantitative analysis was conducted using Kruskal Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests to determine any significant differences with the survey results. Content and thematic analysis was conducted on the student and faculty interviews to determine themes of enabling and threatening factors affecting persistence.

Enabling factors affecting persistence were found to be: Drive or Motivation, Experiences and skills, and Support. These were both faculty and student interview themes whereas a …