Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Sarah J. Fishback / A growing body of literature suggested that students who come from poverty have potential risk factors that included: being the first in the family to attend a college, being poorly prepared for the academic rigors of college and requiring remedial developmental coursework. Students from poverty who accessed the rural community college also struggled with rising tuition and fees, as well as the cost of books. Students from poverty had greater struggles with social and personal issues and experienced lower completion rates. Limited research has been conducted with this segment of rural students from poverty backgrounds attending community college in the rural setting. This dissertation described a phenomenological case study approach to identify the impact of poverty on the achievement and persistence of rural students who access the rural community college. A small community college in the Midwest representing a rural population and a high percentage of poverty students was selected as the site for the study. The goal of this research was to explore perceived factors by students receiving Pell Grants and in developmental courses while in attendance at a rural community college in order to identify possible strategies to ameliorate barriers in their rural community college experience. The research found this student population to be at high risk with multiple risk factors. In addition to being developmental and receiving Pell Grants, other scholarships combined with working part-time and often full-time were needed to supplement student finances; poor high school academic preparation and counseling; lacked the computer skills necessary for college coursework; being non-traditional; lack of consistency in tutoring services; and being food short and hungry. These additional risk factors made this segment of the student population fragile.

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to determine if differences exist in academic achievement based on student SES as measured by grade point average (GPA), credit hours earned, and completion of the academic year for rural community college students enrolled during the 2018-19 academic year. The study used existing data from a multi-campus rural community college located in the Southeastern region of the United States. To answer the research questions, existing data were collected from this community college. The independent variable collected was SES, as measured by Pell grant eligibility. The dependent variables collected included GPA, credit hours, and completion. T-tests were conducted to answer research questions 1 (GPA) and 2 (credit hours earned). A Chi-Square Test for Independence was used to answer research question 3 (completion). Results for research question 1 indicated no statistically significant difference in GPA based on SES. Results for research question 2 indicated a statistically significant difference for credit hours earned based on SES, but not in the way literature supported since low SES students had higher credit hours earned. Results for research question 3 indicated no statistically significant relationship between completion of the 2018-19 academic year and SES. As a result of the study, recommendations to the leadership of the community college were given in hopes that it will lead to the betterment of the college.

Participation in non-classroom activities has been documented to extend the intellectual, social, and psychosocial outcomes of the college experience. However, the benefits of non-classroom activities are often difficult to quantify due their voluntary nature, with findings mostly related to students within four-year institutions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether rural community college full-time freshman students who participate in non-classroom activities differ from nonparticipants with regard to self-identified values of academic integration, social integration, degree commitment, collegiate stress, and institutional commitment. These five factors have been demonstrated to influence student persistence and were adopted from Davidson et al.’s (2015) College Persistence Questionnaire, Version 2 (CPQ-V2). CPQ-V2 data were collected using an electronic survey distributed during the Fall 2021 semester. Survey participants offered details about their personal background and involvement in non-classroom activities, followed by responses to a series of questions from an adapted form of the CPQ-V2. The chi-square test of independence and one-way ANOVA were used to identify significant associations or relationships between variables. Data were analyzed through the lens of Astin’s theory of student involvement and Tinto’s theory of student departure. The results of analysis detected statistically significant associations between students’ level of involvement and their program of study, residency, employment, parental education, and volume of online classes. Their type of involvement was found to have a significant association with student residency. The level of involvement among students was also found to be significantly associated with their self-reported sense of social integration and degree commitment, a finding that was accompanied by the types of involvement and their statistical significance to their sense of social integration. Results from the survey instrument can vary across institutions and student populations; still, the results further demonstrate the differences among student groups in their non-classroom involvement. Accordingly, practitioners should continuously monitor their institution’s effectiveness in providing non-classroom opportunities that meet community college students’ needs and support their persistence efforts.

The United States is in the middle of a gripping nursing shortage; a shortage that is putting patients' lives in danger. This study determined the impact community and tribal colleges in severely economically distressed counties of the United States have on the nursing shortage faced by health care facilities serving these areas. The initial sample of 24 institutions selected in the Ford Foundation's Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) (1995-2000). Data were collected from the Fall 1998 National Study of Post Secondary Faculty to obtain characteristics of faculty and from the 2003 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to obtain characteristics of students, both at all publicly-controlled community colleges, all tribal colleges, and the 24 RCCI colleges that included 18 community and six tribal colleges. A survey was sent to the directors/deans/chairs of the nursing programs to ascertain issues related to the nursing program, nursing faculty, and nursing students. Respondents were asked to identify the healthcare facilities used for students' clinical experiences. A survey was then sent to each of these facilities asking about rural health, and source of nursing staff. Findings: 1) 87% of these these rural healthcare facilities are experiencing a significant shortage of nurses, and they are challenged to recruit and retain nursing staff; 2) Nursing programs, including both Licensed Practical Nursing and Associate's Degree Nursing are important to these rural community and tribal colleges, have seen growth over the past 5 years and expect to continue growth (86%); 3) Financial aid for nursing students is critically important; 4) Students are predominantly white and female; minorities are significantly under-represented; 5) Lack of subsidized public transportation and child care for nursing students even at tribal colleges are barriers that impact program completion; and 6) A shortage of nursing faculty exists at rural community and tribal colleges that negatively impacts student enrollment in these programs, thus reducing the rural nursing workforce pipeline. It is the rural community and tribal college nursing programs help provide severely economically distressed counties of the United States with the nursing workforce needed to decrease the nurse to patient ratio.