Abstract:

Introduction:
Previous state-level research has found that credit-bearing online learning at the community college level results in higher rates of withdrawal and failure compared to classroom-based education (Xu & Smith Jaggars, 2011). This line of research also indicates that students who took online coursework in early semesters were somewhat less likely to return to school in following semesters, and students who took a higher proportion of credits online were slightly less likely to attain a college credential or transfer to a four-year institution (Smith-Jaggars & Xu, 2010). The primary goal of the current study was to examine US national data on three related educational outcomes for community college students with and without traditional online and distance education experiences during their year of first entry in postsecondary education.

Previous Research:
Analyzing data on nearly 24,000 students in 23 institutions in the Virginia Community College system Smith Jaggars and Wu (2010) concluded that learners had a greater likelihood of failing or withdrawing from online courses than from face-to-face courses. The authors also found that community college students who took online coursework in early semesters were somewhat less likely to return to school in following semesters, and students who took a higher proportion of credits online were slightly less likely to attain a credential or transfer to a four-year institution.

Purpose:
The purpose of the study was primarily descriptive. The goal was to describe the timing of the three events and to compare the time trajectories of the subpopulations of community college students with and without exposure to distance education coursework during their first year of study. The study examined also whether the time-to-event processes within subpopulations vary as a function of demographic characteristics. The outcomes of interest were attainment of first associate degree, transfer, and dropout.

Participants:
The study uses data from Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS 04/09) study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The original BPS 04/09 sample includes records of approximately 16,100 students representing about 4,000,000 individuals who have entered postsecondary institutions in the 2003/04 academic year. The analytical sample for this study consisted of approximately 4,400 community college students. The primary focus in this study was on time-to-degree, dropout rates, and transfer relative to the community college institution of first entry; therefore, the sample was delimited to community college students whose records in 2003/04 as well as student survey data identified an associate degree as a program of study. To analyze the time patterns for the subpopulations of students, we used competing risks discrete survival analysis.

Results:
Results indicate, in contrast to previous research, compared to the subpopulation of exclusively classroom-based education students, a greater proportion of students who had engaged in online and distance education had either attained an associate degree at the end of the observation period or transferred to a different institution. In the full paper implications for policy, practice and future research are discussed.