Student Success at Community Colleges: How Retention, Graduation, Degree Conferral, and Academic Improvement Strategies Support Students

Student success is a term that has gained a lot of notoriety within higher education discourse. As measured by the graduation rates that institutions of higher education are required to report on an annual basis, one chapter of the story on how well students and colleges are doing on the college completion agenda is revealed. As graduation and student success accountability measures are put in place, the changes institutions are implementing to acknowledge and adapt their campus practices and shift more focus from access to completion are worthy of further review. This qualitative case study examines what three Aspen Institute Prize for Community College Excellence finalists have incorporated on their campuses that they believe have been instrumental in moving the needle on student success. The purpose of this study is to closely examine these institutions and to explore practices and policy change adoption that has influenced overall graduation rate improvements. This research relies on Kezar’s (2014) work on organizational change as the theoretical framework for the numerous models and theories that help understand and explain change. The findings of this study reveal the significance of institutional support, organizational commitment, and approaches to change that are effective and have positive impacts on campus culture as it relates to student completion. Institutional leaders can use these findings when addressing high- impact approaches if they are considering any policy or program adoption and the effects these have on community college campuses within higher education