| The purpose of this exploratory, ex post facto study was to examine the academic performance, as measured by grade point average and the number of completed credits, and the retention of first-time, full-time community college students who enrolled in a first-year Student Success course in the Fall 2005 semester, the first time this course was offered. This study was conducted by examining data from the college's student records. The students were divided into three cohorts: students who completed the Student Success course (Completers), students who did not complete the Student Success course (Non-Completers) and students who did not enroll in the Student Success course (FT/FT Non-Participants). The cohorts were compared using descriptive statistics, independent samples t tests, analysis of variance, and Chi-square tests of association. Results indicated that the Completers cohort achieved the highest GPA, completed the greatest number of credits, and had the highest retention to the subsequent semester. |
