Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership

Department

Educational Leadership

First Reader/Committee Chair

Karen Escalante

Abstract

This study explored the enrollment departure effects of First-Generation College Students (FGCS) at the community college level. Community colleges serve a key role in providing higher education access to nontraditional students, including FGCS. The study employed a three-pronged quantitative research approach to understand the enrollment departure phenomenon better. The study was guided by the Student/Institution Engagement Model to elucidate the impacts of precollege, institutional, and environmental factors on student persistence. Two binary logistic regressions and chi-square tests for independence were conducted on archival college data.

Key findings show that FGCS experienced a 12% overall higher departure rate than non-FGCS and that special population programs like EOPS and Umoja effectively reduce enrollment departure rates. Early college exposure through CCAP high school participation represented the highest persistence odds. Academic milestones, such as completing transfer-level math and English in the first year and full-time enrollment in the first year emerged as strong predictors of student retention. Recommendations for leaders include scaling up mentorship and support programs, such as EOPS, streamlining onboarding practices for incoming FGCS, and providing enhanced academic support for foundational coursework, flexible course scheduling to accommodate working students, and other environmental-related scaffolding, such as child-caretaking and transportation services.

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