Against all Odds: Perspectives on Completion from Non-Traditional Students ina Rural Community College.

This qualitative study was an exploration of the experiences of a cohort of nontraditional
students with identified barriers to academic success who completed their
program at a rural community college in the Midwest. They had an extraordinary degree
completion rate of 84 percent (the national success rate for community college students is
28 percent). While so much of the literature focuses on reasons for dropping out, the
purpose of this study was to reveal factors which students identified as the most valuable
to their completion. The findings of this research project can be taken into account while
developing support services for non-traditional students in other community colleges.
One of the unique and the most efficient arrangements made for this group was
the assignment of one advisor for this cohort of former factory workers. Another factor
that helped them to succeed was putting them into the same cohort with the same or
almost the same schedule. Their advisor and their instructors encouraged mutual help and
the development of team spirit within this particular group. Besides tutors, their college
professors were asked to work with these students in the Learning Support Center. Study
participants indicated that their advisor, the instructors, their fellow students, and the
Learning Support Center made the greatest contribution to their successful completion of
the program. It was also found that student engagement and the development of trusting
personal relationships between students within the group, as well as between students and
their instructors and their advisor were very important factors which contributed to their
success.