Education Commons^™

A Predictive Model Of Completion At Mississippi’S Community Colleges, Richard Baker

Dissertations

In the 2020 American presidential election and throughout the time since, the discussion of free community college continues to raise its head in the present political landscape in the United States. As the recognition of the contribution of community colleges to the overall educational level of the country grows, increased focus is going to be placed on how efficient and effective these two-year institutions are.

This research expands the body of knowledge by combining Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Astin’s Input-Environment-Output (IEO) model into an educational production function as defined by Bowles (1970). Neither RDT nor IEO is complete on …

Student Loan Debt And First-Generation Community College Students, Sandra A. Fuentes

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The rising costs of college attendance and changes in financial aid packages leave students with little option other than to incur a debt of some amount. Unfortunately, colleges often fail to provide adequate financial literacy and student loan information so prospective students planning to attend college can make informed decisions. Student loans may seem attractive in the short term because, unlike other loans, repayment does not begin immediately. However, the accrual of student loan debt leads to long-term financial consequences, including the opportunity to build economic wealth after graduation. Utilizing a basic qualitative research design, I explored first-generation community college …