Year of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Degree Type

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Degree Name

Educational Leadership

Department or School/College

College of Education and Human Sciences

Committee Chair

William P. McCaw

Commitee Members

John Matt, Frances O’Reilly, Nathan Lindsay, Ivan Lorentzen

Keywords

community college, completion, scholarships, student debt, student risk factors

Publisher

University of Montana

Subject Categories

Educational Leadership

Abstract

This quantitative, nonexperimental, expo-facto study examined the relationship of student risk factors and completion or noncompletion of degrees and certificates for first time students who took out loans to pay for college in the fall of 2011 at three rural community colleges, comprising all community colleges in a rural state. Archival student data was tracked from fall 2011 to spring 2016. Because the study assessed the relationship between several predictor (independent) variables and one criterion (dependent) variable and the outcome was binary, completion (1) or noncompletion (0), a logistic regression was utilized to address the research question, What is the relationship between student risk factors and completion for students with debt at three rural community colleges? This study was nonexperimental, therefore no attempt was made to establish a cause and effect relationship. Rather, relationships were analyzed.

The independent variables in this study were student factors found in the literature as being associated with completion or noncompletion of degrees and certificates: (a) amount of student debt in increments of $1,000, (b) college GPA, (c) credits per semester, (d) developmental courses, (e) private scholarship, (f) Pell grants, (g) age, (h) gender, (i) race, (j) campus attended, and (k) loans and scholarship combined.

The binomial dependent variable in this study was completion or noncompletion of degrees and certificates at community colleges. Completion was defined as any student exiting the institution with a credential (degree or certificate). Noncompletion was defined as any student exiting the institution without a credential (a degree or certificate).

Four independent variables in the study were shown to be statistically significant in their relationship to completion: (a) a $1,000 increase in federal loans, (b) college GPA, (c) credits per semester, and (d) private scholarships.

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© Copyright 2018 Colleen Sweeney Unterreiner