Many medical school admissions personnel and pre-health advisors advise premedical students not to take the medical school prerequisite courses at two-year colleges because they believe the courses are less academically rigorous than the same courses at four-year institutions (Losada, 2009; Marie, 2009; Thurlow, 2008, 2009a, 2009b). According to this belief, premedical students who complete the medical school prerequisite courses at a two-year college could be at a disadvantage in regard to medical school admission compared to those students who complete the medical school prerequisite courses at a four-year institution. In an effort to analyze these perceptions, this study examined factors pertaining to the enrollment of premedical students in the medical school prerequisite courses at two-year colleges. This research study examined the enrollment statuses and grades of matriculants to medical school from the University of Central Florida between 2007 and 2011. Specifically, the type of student enrollment of the matriculants who completed any of the medical school prerequisite courses at a two-year college was examined, and both their type of institutional enrollment and grades in the organic chemistry courses were also examined. The results indicated that there were significant differences in types of student enrollment in most medical school prerequisite courses at two-year colleges, and based on these differences, the researcher identified whether completing certain prerequisite courses as certain types of enrollment were either “more acceptable” or “less acceptable” for premedical students. In addition, the results indicated that there were not significant differences in organic chemistry grades based on the type of institution where the courses iv were taken. Based on these results, the researcher could not categorize the courses at either type of institution as “more rigorous” or “less rigorous” than the other, but the researcher also recommends that these results should be perceived cautiously until additional, more in-depth research can be conducted on this topic. Finally, recommendations and implications for premedical students, pre-health advisors, medical school admissions personnel, two-year colleges, and four-year institutions were discussed.

Administrators of nursing programs in community colleges are aware of the need to retain and to graduate students to meet the growing demand for licensed practical nurses (LPNs). High attrition in a 2-year nursing program in South Carolina affected the number of students either graduating as a LPN after completing the third semester, or continuing in the program to become a registered nurse (RN). Guided by Jeffreys's nursing undergraduate retention and success model, this causal comparative study investigated the differences between students who were and were not successful in the initial 3 semesters of the program. Archival student records for all students entering fall 2012 through fall 2013 (n = 373) were analyzed using multiple ordinal logistic regression. The independent variables were demographics (age, gender, race/ethnicity), admissions qualifications (SAT/ACT scores, prior degree, or pre-nursing certificate), and academic performance (GPA in prerequisite courses, final course grades, and Kaplan standardized test scores). The dependent measure, student success, was defined by Jeffreys's pathways: attrition, failure, and retention (interim or continuous). Data analysis indicated GPA in prerequisite courses and grade in the first medical-surgical course were significant factors in predicting students successfully passing the initial 3 semesters. There were no other significant findings. Findings were incorporated into a recommendation for a policy change to increase the prerequisite GPA admissions requirement. Implications for social change include increased retention and graduation rates, thus preparing more students to enter the workforce as LPNs and contribute to reducing the nursing shortage.