The Power of One More Course: How Different First Semester Credit Loads Affect Community College Student Persistence

ABSTRACTEstablishing early academic momentum via credit accumulation is strongly associated with community college student success. Using data from one of the nation’s largest and most racially diverse community college systems, our quasi-experimental study examined how different first-semester credit loads influenced persistence. For part-time students (less than 12 semester credit hours), enrolling in one additional course (3 more credits) significantly improved their chances of persistence to the subsequent term and next academic year. For part-time students, an increased credit load was significantly and positively related to persistence. However, for full-time students, an increase from 12 to 15 credits was not related to persistence. These patterns were consistent across subgroups by students’ level of academic preparation (developmental education status) and degree objective (workforce credential or transfer associate degree). Moreover, the increased course load did not significantly hinder students’ early academic performance as measured by GPA for any group and in some cases was related to increased GPA. We discuss the implications of these findings for academic advising, course scheduling, and completion initiatives at community colleges.KEYWORDS: Community college15-to-finish programsacademic momentumenrollment intensitypropensity score matchingTexas Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. At the time of our study, Texas used the Texas Success Initiative Assessment to assess students’ college-ready status in reading, writing, and mathematics. In response to a Predictive Validity Placement study, the statewide minimum passing standards to determine college-readiness were decreased (Morgan & Morales-Vale, Citation2017). Prior to that policy change, 58% of UCC’s entering students were deemed not college-ready in one or more subject areas.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Greater Texas Foundation under Grant [38055493]. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Greater Texas Foundation or any director, officer or employee thereof.