Food Insecurity, Inadequate Childcare, & Transportation Disadvantage: Student Retention and Persistence of Community College Students

ABSTRACT

As higher education enrollment patterns have changed, so too has the focus for institutional administrators. College students have been shown to be retained at higher rates when they are engaged in supportive services on campus. The Jefferson Community School program was designed to meet the non-academic needs of the community college student population of a rural campus in Northern New York. This program included food pantry, transportation, and childcare services at no cost to enrolled students. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between use of non-academic services and retention and persistence rates of community college students (n = 90). A quantitative, quasi-experimental research method approach was used to compare matched samples of students who participated in the Jefferson Community Schools program and students who did not participate in the Jefferson Community Schools program. Each sample consisted of 45 students who were matched on enrolled credit hours, age, gender and Pell status. An ANOVA statistical test was conducted to compare the matched sample groups. Results showed that 30 out of 45 students in the Jefferson Community Schools program were retained and 41 out of 45 persisted. This was compared to retention of 30 out of 45 and persistence of 42 out of 45 of the matched non participatory sample. The results of this study suggest that providing non-academic resources to low-income students may serve to equalize the chances of being retained or persisting when compared to peers that have more resources of their own (p < .05).