| A first-year experience is a collaborative effort of many initiatives, with varying names that have the greatest impact on student success during the first year of college. A first-year experience course, a feature of the first-year experience, is an intervention program designed to increase student academic performance and integration (Braxton & McClendon, 2002; Karp, 2011; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Reason, Terenzini, & Domingo, 2006; O'Gara, Karp, & Hughes, 2009; Tinto, 1975; Tinto & Pusser, 2006). An examination of a current intervention program, a first-year experience course, will provide community colleges with evidence a first-year experience course has on student and institutional success, as measured by academic performance, retention and graduation rates. This study will extend the current body of knowledge on the first-year experience, by examining the relationship between enrolling in a first-year experience course during the first year of college and student success. |
